STEM at the Marina

BREMERTON, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES

01.20.2022

Story by Adrienne Burns  

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility

A typical day at the Port of Bremerton Marina sees boaters come and go from the docks, hauling fishing gear or boating supplies as waves lap against the dock’s pillars and seagulls squawk overhead. But on the morning of Dec. 1, 2021, as a chilly wind whipped through the air, a group of middle schoolers from South Kitsap School District could be seen marching single file down the docks, carrying boxes filled with wires, motors and PVC pipes—the makings of their self-made, remotely operated vehicles.
These ROVs were the culmination of months of work for these students, and they were finally getting a chance to test the results of their effort. With mentorship and support from Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility and Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Keyport STEM mentors, these students have gone through the build process doing everything from soldering components and waterproofing motors to studying concepts like buoyancy and propulsion.
For more than 10 years the PSNS & IMF/Keyport STEM team has been working with K-12 students and educators toward a common goal of student success in science, technology, engineering and math. The STEM partnership exists to cooperatively and collaboratively strengthen implementation of STEM innovations that help our youth to embark on careers in tomorrow's technical workforce.
In fact, when the students first arrived at the marina, they were greeted by Capt. Jip Mosman, commander, PSNS & IMF, who shared with them how their ROV projects mirrored a lot of the processes that go on at the shipyard.
“What you’re learning and what you’re seeing here, we in the Navy also do. We have to try things and persevere,” Mosman said. “If things don’t go right the first time, we go back and we fix it.”
This mindset of perseverance could be seen throughout the morning as students launched their ROVs and began to troubleshoot the issues they found with their crafts. Mosman visited with teams up and down the marina, listening and offering advice as they searched for solutions.
Once the students worked through their problems and achieved neutral buoyancy, they used video monitors linked to their ROV cameras to steer their vessels underwater and begin a marine scavenger hunt of sorts. Using a guide provided to them from the STEM team, students searched underwater for marine life to identify, measure and record.
The excitement could be heard up and down the marina with each new discovery. Whether following a crab along the sea floor or deftly maneuvering their vehicles through underwater terrain, the students showed exactly the kind of skill, hard work and resilience the STEM program aims to nurture.
“The ROV project provides a great opportunity to learn technical skills like measurement and soldering, but is also a 'safe to fail' project in that not everything will go perfectly the first time, every time,” said Corinne Beach, PSNS & IMF STEM coordinator. “Students learn workmanship skills, troubleshooting and how to work with teammates. It's so rewarding to see the learning and perseverance in action during these culminating events.”
In addition to this middle school ROV program, the STEM Outreach team also offers ROV build programs, a robotics program and many other STEM mentoring opportunities for local elementary, middle and high school students.
PSNS & IMF/Keyport STEM volunteers also have the opportunity to support local schools as judges for science fairs each year and provide exhibits for STEM festivals and fairs.
To see the calendar of local STEM events and to find volunteer information, visit the STEM Outreach page via the Diversity Leadership Council’s Sharepoint site or call 360-340-5114 or 360-517-0463.

This story originally appeared on page 6 of the Jan. 20, 2022 issue of Salute.

• Date Taken: 01.20.2022
• Date Posted: 12.22.2022 17:35
• Story ID: 435812
• Location: BREMERTON, WASHINGTON, US