Sailors in Southern Texas put students' ingenuity to the test with a U.S. Navy SeaPerch Challenge Competition at the Harlingen Aquatic Center during the 16th Annual Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) Week, Oct. 6.

The event was focused on continuing to spark students' interests in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Participating commands included Navy Recruiting District (NRD) San Antonio, Navy Operational Support Center (NOSC) Harlingen, and Navy City Outreach Southwest Region.

SeaPerch is an innovative underwater robotics program sponsored by the Office of Naval Research that equips teachers and students with the resources they need to build an underwater remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) in an in-school or out-of-school setting.

Thirty-five high school teams from throughout the Rio Grande Valley participated in the competition which also served as a SeaPerch regional qualifier.

After completing the obstacle and challenge courses, the teams were interviewed by officers assigned to the NOSC and NRD, and personnel from the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV).

Lt. Cmdr. Diana Tran-Yu, a Navy City Outreach Southwest Region officer, said that the Navy hosts the annual competition to continue fostering relationships between the schools in the area, and to motivate students to remain in STEM.

"The goal of the event was to spark students' interest in science and math, [and] also to inspire them to be part of the next generation of engineers and scientists," said Tran-Yu, a native of Houston. "We thank the UTRGV for hosting HESTEC 2017 and we look forward to partnering and cooperating with the university next year."

The winner of the competition was Harlingen High School, with Los Fresnos High School placing second and Science Academy of South Texas placing third.

Team Harlingen will advance to the International SeaPerch Challenge Competition in 2018.

Daniel Guajardo, coach of Harlingen's Engineering and Tech Club, said that it felt great to win again.

"We have some really hard-working kids," said the Brownsville, Texas native. "It means a lot to the students."

According to Guajardo, the middle and high school students in the valley have no access to underwater robotics programs other than SeaPerch.

"The Navy is the only organization that provides such a program for our students," said Guajardo. "It's a great opportunity. Not only are my students seeing the results of their hard work, but they also are returning to the international competition next year."

Through the support of sponsors and partners, to include the U.S. Navy, HESTEC strives to empower teachers and administrators with the resources to inspire their students to pursue STEM careers through Educators Day, Student Leadership Day, Latina Day, Robotics Day, the Middle School Challenge, and the Navy's SeaPerch Challenge Competition. Additionally, during the Fall Career Expo, university students will be provided with employment and internship opportunities, and the community as a whole will partake in Community Day.

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Commander, Navy Recruiting Command, visit www.navy.mil/.