The Purdue University IEEE Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) team, with ROV Model N, placed 17^th in the world at an international competition of the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center held in Seattle June 20-22.

ROV Model N is the successor to the Purdue team's legacy of technological advancement.  The onboard electrical system was custom designed and hand populated by the team.  The mechanical construction of Model N reflects a simple yet robust design philosophy. She has many unique features such as her inverted electronics box that offers leak mitigation, her extremely high power-to-weight ratio, all-axis motion control, and a lightweight MIC 6 aluminum frame.

The mission theme at this year’s MATE Center competition was cabled ocean observing systems.  The mission proved to be particularly challenging with no team at the university level achieving a perfect performance score - a feat achieved most recently by the Purdue team, and two others, two years ago. Competitors traveled from across the globe including: The Ohio State University, Milwaukee School Of Engineering, University of New Hampshire, Arizona State, and teams from Egypt, Russia, Canada, China, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom.

In addition, the team was awarded the Engineering Evaluation MVP Award for its top-notch ability to defend its design decisions in a logical manner. Usually awarded to an individual, the award was given to the entire team for thoroughness in addressing technical and nontechnical questions.

The team will represent the MATE Center at the prestigious Underwater Intervention conference in New Orleans February 11-13, 2014.  The team received the Judges’ Choice Award – an opportunity awarded to just one team to attend the Underwater Intervention conference.

Founded five years ago, the Purdue IEEE ROV team is comprised of a committee of the Purdue IEEE Student Branch.