In the mostly male-dominated arena of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), Lanier High School is working to get more girls interested in these areas of study.
According to the National Girls Collaborative Project, women make up only 35% of all the workers in a STEM-related field. At the high school level, girls are ahead of boys in some areas like the percentage of girls who earned credits in STEM advanced mathematics compared to boys with 91% of female high school graduates versus 88% of male high school graduates that earned credits. Despite girls outperforming boys in some areas, just 28% of high school females aspire to a STEM career compared to 65% of high school males.
In 2021, a Lanier High School student, Makenna Reilly founded the Sea Cow MATE ROV team. The all-girls competitive underwater robotics team is making a name for itself having won back-to-back regional titles and qualifying for three World Championships appearances in just the four years since the team was started at Lanier High School.
“The mission of our all-girls team is to not only collaborate to make an efficient underwater ROV but to give young women a safe place to explore and push their STEM passions,” said Mike Reilly, faculty advisor and lead mentor for the Sea Cow MATE ROV team.
The MATE ROV competition focuses on “learning and applying techniques to underwater robotics, from design to build to program to operate. They compete against other high schools and colleges, and also get to meet and mingle with leaders of the “Blue Economy” dealing with marine engineering and related issues,” explained Reilly.
Around December, each MATE ROV team learns what “tasks” they must accomplish for that year’s competition. The “tasks” must be accomplished underwater, typically in an Olympic-sized swimming pool. The members of the Sea Cow MATE ROV team evaluate and then choose which ones they feel they can accomplish in a given 15-minute window. They then have approximately four months to “design, build, test, and iterate through improvements” and get plenty of driving experience for their underwater robot.
With the team founder, Makenna set to graduate at the end of the 2024 school year, Reilly wanted to focus on preparing the team to compete without her during the 2024 competitive season. The team had five new members, four of them 9th graders so Reilly’s goal for 2024 was to “grow and nurture the team and make Makenna unnecessary.”
Leading up to the regional competition, The Water Tower allows the team to use their pool to practice driving their robot and the team conducts two demonstrations per year at The Water Tower to show off their skills to those interested in the community.
The 2024 Appalachian Highlands Regional competition was held in Johnson City, Tenn. at Eastern Tennessee State University. The Sea Cow ROV team came into the competition as the favorites and defending region champions. With Makenna being a spectator and commentator in the stands, the rest of the team had to overcome first-time nerves during the competition. The team was able to recover from a few small mistakes and the girls were able to complete their attempt coming away with the team’s highest score at the time. That score was enough to capture the team’s second regional title and a ticket to the World Championship..
The Sea Cow ROV team competed at the MATE ROV World Championship at the Kingsport Aquatic Center in Kingsport, Tenn. on June 20-22, 2024. The girls accumulated 522.50 points, a new scoring record for the Sea Cows and a 16th place finish out of 37 teams in their division.
First-year team member and the pilot of the Sea Cow MATE ROV, Sophia Clingan received an individual honor at the World Championship. Professional ROV pilots and other judges voted to give Sophia the Oceaneering ROV Pilot Award for her ability to drive an ROV. She beat out 78 other ROV pilots for the honor.
“While it was great to win (Regionals) for the second year in a row, and qualify for the World Championships for the third year in a row, it’s knowing that the team has developed into a team with systems and roles, and it is not a one-woman show,” said Reilly.
For more information about the Lanier High School Sea Cow MATE ROV team, visit www.seacowrov.com/home.
