More than 300 students from Spain, Iran, Scotland, Hong Kong, Canada, the United States and Newfoundland and Labrador are in St. John�s for an underwater competition this week. They will compete in the National Science Foundation�s Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center 6^th Annual International Remotely-Operated Vehicle (ROV) Competition. The students will pilot vehicles that they have engineered and constructed through a series of underwater obstacles.

"This is the first time the competition has been held outside the United States and I am pleased that we have outstanding facilities and infrastructure necessary to hold this event," said the Honourable Trevor Taylor, Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development. "This event underlines the increasing importance of ROVs to our economy in oil and gas, ocean observing, and underwater mapping."

The event, hosted by the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University and the National Research Council-Institute for Ocean Technology, runs from June 22-24. Teams

will compete in three different missions including operating under ice and battling waves and currents. Events will be held at the Marine Institute�s flume tank and at the Institute for Ocean Technology�s ice tank and tow tank.

The province is sponsoring the event with a $50,000 contribution through the Marine Technology Strategy Initiative Fund.

In Budget 2007, the Provincial Government invested $1 million in the Marine Institute to establish a School of Ocean Technology to further position Newfoundland and Labrador as a leader in ocean technology development. It also provided support for two ROV simulators which will be used as tools for the ROV operator courses now available at the institute.

Twenty-five high schools in Newfoundland and Labrador competed earlier this year to win the right to represent the province in the competition. The three winners were Heritage Collegiate, Lethbridge; Carbonear Collegiate, Carbonear; and Eric G. Lambert School, Churchill Falls. They will be joined by defending post-secondary champions, the Eastern Edge Robotics Team, which is made up of students from the Marine Institute, Memorial University, and College of the North Atlantic. This team has won the event for the last two years.

The competition is supported by the MATE Center and the Marine Technology Society (MTS) ROV Committee and encourages students to develop science, technology, engineering, and math skills by showing them real-world applications of these subjects.

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Media contact:
Clifford Grinling
Manager of Communications
Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development
709-729-7066
cgrinlin@gov.nl.ca

2007 06 21                                                    11:20 a.m.