What is Sea Perch?

Background
MIT Sea Grant's new Sea Perch program introduces pre-college students to the wonders of underwater robotics. Part of the Office of Naval Research's initiative, "Recruiting the Next Generation of Naval Architects," this program teaches students how to build an underwater robot (called a Sea Perch), how to build a propulsion system, how to develop a controller, and how to investigate weight and buoyancy. This endeavor is one of many exciting new projects funded by the Office of Naval Research as part of its National Naval Responsibility Initiative. The initiative focuses on bringing academia, government and industry to work together to ensure that the talent needed to design the Navy's next generation of ships and submarines will be there when needed.

We would like to thank Brandy Wilbur, Christiaan Adams, Maggie Loftus from the MIT Sea Grant office for providing teacher training programs at Drexel University because without them this event would not be happening.  To visit the MIT Sea Perch website please visit http://web.mit.edu/seagrant/edu/seaperch/WhySP.html.

So how did it end up in Philadelphia?
The American Society of Naval Engineers Delaware Valley Chapter (ASNE-DV) and the Philadelphia Naval Surface Warfare Center brought the Sea Perch program to Philadelphia and Drexel University. In the spring of 2005 Drexel hosted a teacher training and through contact with the School District of Philadelphia’s Office of College and Career Awareness Secondary Robotics Initiative the idea for hosting the fist ever sea perch competition came about. The Secondary Robotics Initiative brought the Delaware Valley Industrial Research Center (DVIRC) onboard as a partner to round out the industrial expertise. The first Greater Philadelphia Sea Perch Challenge Sea Search and Rescue will be held at Drexel University on Saturday, Jun 3, 2006.