Photo By David Stoehr | Mike DeSousa (right), program manager of K-12 Outreach at the Naval Undersea Warfare...... read more read more
NEWPORT, R.I. – The Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport’s Undersea Technology Apprentice Program (UTAP) welcomed 50 high school students to explore building, programming and driving remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) over two three-week sessions held in July and August.
Designed as a steppingstone to science, math, technology and engineering (STEM) careers, UTAP is aimed at providing clarity for high school students interested in those fields. Rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C., attended the sessions held July 7-24 and July 28-Aug. 14.
Students said that the hands-on program was impressive.
“I feel like this program made me want to work in the engineering field,” said Mirolla Saleb, of Tiverton, Rhode Island, a rising junior at Bishop Stang High School in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts. “I’ve participated in other programs before, but they weren’t as hands-on as this one. This program helps guide you to discover which area of engineering you like. It has made me excited to want to be an engineer.”
Grace Rubacha, a rising senior at Nonnewaug High School in Woodbury, Connecticut, also has a plan for her career path.
“I want to pursue geotechnical civil engineering because I like the natural aspects of it,” Rubacha said. “You get to interact with the environment and discover what is best and safe for humans and the environment. I also feel like I will be able to retain creativeness while still experiencing the science aspect.”
On the first day of each session, students received a SeaPerch Kit containing all the parts needed to build a basic ROV. As the week progressed, the teams were given additional motors, a video game controller, a custom-designed circuit board and a screen and a camera to build onto their SeaPerch ROV.
Raspberry Pi, a single board computer, then had to be programmed and each student took turns soldering, driving the ROV, and managing an engineering notebook.
Division Newport scientists and engineers taught students new concepts through lectures and guided prompts. The teams tested different designs that could potentially overcome obstacles in a water tank.
“The lectures in this program were very informative,” said Eric Hayter, a rising junior at Barrington High School in Rhode Island. “I learned a lot of things like serial communication, programming, and fairly advanced concepts that were taught in a very approachable way.”
Teamwork and collaboration are huge aspects of the program.
“I really liked working with my teammates and coming up new designs,” said Andre Wichowski, a rising senior at Portsmouth High School in Rhode Island. “I liked improvising when we needed to and coming up with new solutions. I got a lot better with working with people that I didn’t know.”
Liam Casey, a rising junior at Darien High School in Connecticut, said he was happy to have participated in the program.
“This was definitely a change, but it was fun overall,” Casey said. “I learned to step back and let others share their ideas.”
On the team final competition days, July 23 and Aug. 13, the students gathered near the saltwater test pool set up outside Building 80. Mike DeSousa, Division Newport’s program manager of K-12 STEM Outreach, then provided a mission briefing which required each team to maneuver their ROV through a “shipwreck.”
The team that completed the series of challenges with the most points won the competition, but to be the winning team of the session, the students were also graded for their engineering notebook and final engineering report. The aim is to teach students the importance of documenting results.
“If you don’t put all of the instructions in your engineering manuals, the test isn’t going to go well,” said Emily Goyette, a systems engineer Division Newport’s Undersea Warfare (USW) Weapons, Vehicles, and Defensive Systems Department and a UTAP volunteer. “We want them to use their notebooks as a means of replicating the process. If you can’t repeat the process, your test results are null and void.”
The winning team from the first session includes Rhode Island students Emily Gimple and Lianna Cowan, Toll Gate High School in Warwick; Michael Jandron, Coventry High School; Lucas Hoefferle, Moses Brown School in Providence; and New Jersey student Kavin Padma of Monroe Township High School.
The winning team from the second session includes Rhode Island students Andrew “Nicholas” Parisi, East Greenwich High School; Vienna Hevenor, North Kingstown High School; Benjamin Simone, Tiverton High School; Brynn Tuxbury, Exeter-West Greenwich Regional High School; and George Karonis, The Wheeler School in Providence.
Hailey Ferguson, a rising senior from Portsmouth, who attends Prout School in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, has been involved with robotics programs since the fifth grade. Ferguson participated in UTAP last year and was asked to return as an assistant to explain the process to this year’s participants.
“I’m happy that I can use all the skills that I have learned throughout all of my robotics experiences and apply them here,” Ferguson said. “It is really nice to be back.”
Dr. John DiCecco, an electrical engineer in the USW Platforms and Payload Integration Department and an original developer of UTAP curriculum, makes changes to the specifications of the project each year with the intention of encouraging innovative thinking and problem-solving.
“Over the years, we have been able to add more to the program because we have the ability to test in a tank out here and give more lectures focusing on additional things,” DiCecco said.
NUWC Newport is the oldest warfare center in the country, tracing its heritage to the Naval Torpedo Station established on Goat Island in Newport Harbor in 1869. Commanded by Capt. Chad Hennings, NUWC Newport maintains major detachments in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Andros Island in the Bahamas, as well as test facilities at Seneca Lake and Fisher's Island, New York, Leesburg, Florida, and Dodge Pond, Connecticut.
| Date Taken: | 08.27.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.27.2025 15:41 |
| Story ID: | 546683 |
| Location: | NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 34 |
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