Students take third place in underwater robotics competition – Oregon Observer

SeaPerch is an underwater robotics competition where kids build an ROV (remote operated vehicle) in teams of two to five and compete against other teams in the region.

There are two challenges in the water -- an obstacle course and a national mission challenge based on real-life events.

This years theme was space exploration. Teams are ranked by speed, design, and engineering principles and processes. Additionally, teams submit a full engineering notebook for evaluation and/or a technical design report.

Congratulations to Oregon seniors Riley Fahey and Adam Mikkelson for leading their two SeaPerch teams to secure a 3rd and 6th place finish at the SW regional hosted at the Verona Aquatics Center on Thursday, March 17.

Adams team, The High Climbers time trial was the fastest for the challenge finishing in 1:11 with Rileys team, A few Dudes finishing at 1:23 - many teams timed out at 10 minutes.

A Few Dudes secured their 3rd place finish with high marks on their engineering notebook and engineering design process which was evaluated by University of Wisconsin graduate students using a national rubric set by RoboNation.

Congratulations to these two seniors and their teams for their hard work and dedication to STEM. We wish them good luck on their future endeavors. Riley will be attending Stevens Point for wildlife management and will continue with orchestra. Adam is undecided where he will attend but is planning on a career in mathematics and/or economics.

A special recognition award was given to Adam Mikkelson for his leadership as the president of Oregon Science club. Adam has been running and coordinating meetings, outings and events for the past three years without assistance from staff or teacher advisor. There is no teacher advisor for Oregon High School.

Other Oregon students at the event included Alex Seitler, a junior who was a part of the sixth place team, and Brody Dion and Chad Karolczak, both seniors who were there to support.

Eighteen teams from five schools competed in the SW Wisconsin Regional that took place on March 17 at the Verona Aquatic Center including Kickapoo, Hillsboro, Sun Prairie, and Verona.

Hillsboro took first place, Kickapoo second. and Oregon third.

Hope Mikkelson, Verona Area High School science teacher has been involved with this since she brought it to Wisconsin eight years ago. She now coordinates and plans the SW Regional yearly. She credits the teachers as being an integral part of the success of this challenge as well as the student leaders in Science Club.

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Students take third place in underwater robotics competition - Oregon Observer