NMIMS team bags ALOHA Team Spirit Award at competition in USA

Team Screwdrivers from SVKM's NMIMS Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management & Engineering, won the "ALOHA Team Spirit Award" at the 13th Annual International ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle) MATE (Marine Advanced Technological Education) 2014. The group represented India at Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary, Alepena, Michigan, USA.

dna reported about the competition in its June 23 edition. The team of 9 scored a complete 30 points under the leadership of Vivek Maurya and under the guidance of Prof Sawankumar Naik.

The features of the ROV are a robotic arm used to pick up, drop and move things under water. A camera is installed to capture underwater photographs and measure the dimensions of shipwreck. There is a sensor to check the conductivity of designated areas under water, a mechanism to collect microbial samples like agar gel from various locations of the shipwreck.

Vivek Maurya explained the mechanism, "Our ROV managed to clear safety inspection in the first attempt itself, for which 30 points were awarded, which is the maximum a team can score during safety checks. Rahul Krishnan, the technical head, piloted the ROV. Various tasks such as picking up the anchor, identifying the shipwreck, photo stitching and measuring the length of shipwreck were performed. We were thrilled when our team was declared the winner of the ALOHA Team Spirit Award."

Prof Sawankumar Naik, speaking of the students, said, "The demonstration of enthusiasm while overcoming the challenges by applying systematic analysis through proper co-ordination among the team members, earned the team the award."