Team Vector Advances to International Competition

LEMONT, IL — Got ingenuity? Engineering Explorer Post 49 does. Vector Robotics, a team comprised of 8 extraordinarily talented high school students from the Des Plaines Valley Community of Pathway to Adventure Council, has been working on their ROV entry into the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) competition sponsored by the Shedd Aquarium for nearly a year. Veteran team members, seniors Kevin Leahy and Eamon Bracht, junior Luke Pawlak and freshman Nathan Pawlak were joined by newcomers senior Marty Snarskis, junior Zach Heatherington, sophomore Alex Bacon and freshman Akash Ghandi.

The MATE competition calls for each team to design and build an underwater robot to meet the specific challenges of a mission. This year’s mission called for a robot capable of exploration of Jupiter’s moon, Europa. The team had to form a “company” which then marketed their design and the unique approach their ROV would bring to that undertaking. They needed to develop a business strategy, marketing plan, safety plan, design schematics and financial report. Over 2800 hours went into the development and implementation of their vision. They were the only team in the Chicago division that did not have the backing of a school. All fundraising to finance their entry was done by the team.

The team’s efforts paid off by securing a spot at the international competition to be held at NASA’s Johnson Space Center Buoyancy Lab in Houston, Texas in June. They will compete against more than 25 other regional teams representing countries across the world. Plans are underway to fine tune the Vector Robotics ROV and polish their presentation skills. Good luck to this remarkable group of young men!