In its first year of competition, Nimitz High School has qualified for Nationals in the SeaPerch Challenge. The team of Ares Medina, Brian Cervantes, Michael Vega and team captain Javier Cerda finished third at regional competition on April 11 to qualify for the national round, to be held May 29-30 at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in Dartmouth, Mass. SeaPerch is a STEM initiative created by the U. S. Navy to promote interest in science and engineering fields. Students design and build a custom remotely-operated vehicle while studying engineering and science topics such as buoyancy, thrust, and drag.
The bid to nationals comes after a strong showing at regionals held April 11 at the North Lake College natatorium. Five teams represented Nimitz at the competition, with a total of 18 students involved. The teams competed in two underwater events: an obstacle course, where teams must navigate a series of rings with their ROV, and a “finesse” course, consisting of three tasks that have to be completed by the ROV. Each team also displayed a poster detailing the design and function of their ROV and answered questions about their learning in a brief interview session. Nimitz teams posted the three fastest times in the obstacle course, with all five teams finishing in the top 10. Additionally, Nimitz teams scored the second and third highest
