SeaPerch Monthly Report – August 2012 The Numbers Timeframe SeaPerch Students Teachers/Mentors Kits Shipped Tool Kits Events Trained Trained Shipped August 2012 33 5,928 310 799 139 Year-to-date 238 28,612 2,236 4,966 588 Key Personnel /Stakeholder Activities Type Date Location Personnel AUVSI North America Convention 5-8 August Las Vegas Nelson, Kimball, Hansen Teacher Training – SeaGlide Workshop 8-12 Ketchikan, Nelson, Ratcliffe August AK Teacher Training 20 August Dahlgren, VA Ratcliffe 2013 National SeaPerch Challenge Planning National Team, Indiana Host 23 August Call Team Meeting with Navy Nuclear Reactor Team 27 August DC Nelson AUVSIF Meeting 28 August DC AUVSI Staff Team Calls Weekly SeaPerch Staff SeaPerch Staff and Website Development Calls Bi-weekly Sonjara Google Analytics for SeaPerch.org 5,562 Visits 60.10 % New Visitors 3,760 Unique Visitors 3,343 Visits 26,263 Pageviews 39.90% Returning Visitors 4.72 Pages/Visit 2,219 Visits 44.53% Bounce Rate Events SeaPerch Spotlighted at AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems North America Conference Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Convention Center was the spectacular venue for AVUSI’s 2012 Unmanned Systems North America conference and exposition, and SeaPerch was there too, prominently displayed in the center of the Student Competition Area where robotic teams from six colleges and universities demonstrated their winning designs. Representing SeaPerch were Susan Nelson, Executive Director, Chris Hansen, Technical Director, and Phil Kimball, Program Director, and this year we were joined by U.S. Navy P38 Reservist, CDR John Sicklick, along with two enthusiastic engineering students, Shanice Jones and Nancy Do, representing one of our newest partners, Embry-Riddle University. The SeaPerch booth included a large covered pool with two SeaPerches outfitted with underwater cameras and monitors for visitors to follow when challenged to pick up rings off the bottom. The large AUVSI water tank was also available on the show floor for demonstrations of the mini-SeaPerch, which in turn drove additional visitor traffic to the booth. On Wednesday afternoon the SeaPerch booth was visited by ONR’s Chief of Naval Research, RADM Matthew Klunder, who tested his skills by retrieving rings off the pool bottom. Thursday was even busier as it was Student Day, or RoboTour, which attracted middle, high and home school students as well as Boy and Girl Scout troops and 4H groups from the greater Las Vegas area. Students were observed coming back for more “sea time,” and both parents and chaperones were captivated by the depth and breadth of the program and as well as our newest brochure, “How to Start a SeaPerch Program in Your School.” Teacher Training in Ketchikan, Alaska As SeaPerch continues to explore new ways to educate students and train teachers, Susan Nelson made her way to Ketchikan, AK to observe a new potential program called SeaGlide. The SeaGlide summer camp was offered for the first time in the western United States and is a cooperative effort of the STEM AK program, the Naval Surface Warfare Center - Carderock Division, NAVSEA, and SeaPerch. The camp brought together 17 middle school students and five teachers from around the state for a one week, intensive workshop to build the autonomous underwater glider. Joining the group were three engineers and a STEM educator from Carderock headed by Toby Ratcliffe, Bob Vieth from STEM AK, and the Underwater Robotics Team from the MIT Edgerton Center, headed by Ed Moriarty. The teachers worked alongside students in learning about building underwater robots, including principles of marine architecture and design, concepts of buoyancy and center of gravity, and circuit design and programming. The week culminated in the successful launch of 22 SeaGlide submersibles in the local pool. U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski stopped by the pool-side event. The kids were ecstatic with their successful glides. As one excited young lady exclaimed, “This is the COOLEST thing I have ever done!” SeaPerch Part of Engineering Internship Program The Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation (PEO STRI) is the U.S. Army’s acquisition and contracting center of excellence for simulation, training and testing capabilities. SeaPerch was used as a platform to teach and then verify the design development and implementation process with high school students in their Engineering Internship. The link below is to the PEO STRI Engineering Internship Web site: http://www.handhgraphicsorlando.com/STEM/ Teacher Training at Dahlgren, VA Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) conducted a teacher training event on August 20th. Master trainer Toby Ratcliffe from Carderock led the training. Teachers from Orange, Westmoreland, Colonial Beach, and Richmond counties in VA were trained. Program Growth Susan Nelson held numerous meetings during the month to expand the SeaPerch program. A few highlights: Susan met with Robert Gibbs, Director, Management and Administration, of Naval Reactors (NAVSEA08) who wants to adopt SeaPerch program-wide over the next several years. Roll-out is planned in Pittsburgh and New York in year one, followed by Idaho and D.C., with eager mentors and great support from the leadership. Susan met with personnel form the Ocean Sciences Department at ONR to discuss possible collaboration ideas in the development of a history component of the SeaPerch curriculum. Susan met with Dr. Deborah Barnhart, CEO of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. The group is looking for ideas for their week-long camps for next summer, and they would like to make SeaPerch a part of those camps. Susan and Dr. Lori Richmond had several calls to work through final details of the new Resource and Activity Guide that will be coming out October 1st. More details to follow, but the guide is designed to be a resource for teachers and mentors to use to provide complete packaged information and resources for them to teach SeaPerch. Highlights from New Programs Navy JROTC Units A partnership is developing with the Navy Junior ROTC (NJROTC) program. NJROTC cadets across the country will begin using SeaPerch to “learn by doing” as they are taught naval architecture and marine and ocean engineering principles, basic science and engineering concepts, tool safety, team building, leadership development, and technical procedures, all while exploring exciting careers possibilities in naval architecture and naval, ocean, and marine engineering. The following NJROTC schools began programs or ordered kits in August: Flour Bluff High School, TX Foy H. Moody High School, TX Magnolia High School, TX Reseda Senior High, CA Rockport- Fulton High School, TX Sullivan North High School, TN Arizona SeaPerch will be a capstone project for students at Sunnyslope High School in Phoenix, concluding two years of physics, math and engineering design studies. In addition to the eight week curriculum provided by SeaPerch, students will also study weightlessness in space, maneuvering in space, energy use and conservation in space. California The Virginia Avenue Park Teen Center in Santa Monica focuses on providing opportunities for youth to gain life skills, contribute to their community, and enrich their lives educationally and culturally through creative arts, leadership, and mentor programs. SeaPerch will be used to launch the new Teen Tinkering Class to provide engineering enrichment to an after-school program that has previously focused on arts education. Students at the Family Life Center in Petaluma will meet after school weekly to build ROVs and learn from USCG mentors about real world uses of robots. A girls-only session is also planned to offer a new perspective on possible career paths for girls interested in STEM topics. Iridescent High School Engineering After School Programs in Los Angeles are designed to provide students with an opportunity to learn and explore engineering concepts and potential careers. Due to the great success of underwater robotics summer camps and demand from the community, they would like to continue running the SeaPerch program in an after school format. The program will be held two days per week for eight weeks and will engage students as they discuss electronics, autonomy, ocean dynamics, and research applications of ROVs. The program will be facilitated by Iridescent staff and USC engineering students who have taken “Engineers as Teachers”, a semester long course led by Iridescent at USC. The Science Club at Vista Del Lago High in Folsom has many different branches to help promote and nurture students’ interests in STEM in the school and community. The robotics branch of the Science Club was formed specifically to cater to the increasing opportunities and excitement that robotics and engineering brings to the students. Their plan is to incorporate SeaPerch underwater ROVs as a focused activity in this club. Colorado Mountain Ridge Middle School in Colorado Springs plans to offer SeaPerch to all grade levels as an after school program. A competition conducted by the Air Force Academy is slated for late October. Students will keep a journal on their SeaPerch build and will have an opportunity to evaluate their final project and reflect on their performance after the competition. Students participating in the free Science and Engineering After School Club at Dunstan Middle School will work in teams to construct SeaPerches and then race their ROVs against other students. The group will met once per week to learn about buoyancy and density