FAIRVIEW, Ala. – Students from Fairview High School are competing in the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) ROV Competition Northern Gulf Coast Regional at Dauphin Island Sea Lab. The competition, which takes place April 25-27, allows students to showcase underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) robots they have spent months building and testing.
Fairview teams are Tidal Tech, Coral Crew and the Octonauts. The regional competition has multiple levels, ranging from elementary to college age. Teams participate in real-world scenario challenges, including exploring shipwrecks, studying the effects of climate change on the Great Lakes, developing renewable energy solutions and performing mock repairs on floating solar power fields.
“Much of the task work involves moving PVC parts and matching specific technical requirements in the challenge,” Fairview Science Teacher Elizabeth Lockhart explained. “But it’s about more than that — it’s about solving real problems and thinking critically.”
The students have spent months fundraising extensively to afford the needed supplies and travel costs. Lockhart estimated it took dozens of hours outside the classroom, especially since many students are upperclassmen juggling jobs and extracurricular activities. She said they received support from the Fairview community and Cullman County Schools Superintendent Dr. Shane Barnette, which helped ease the financial burden.
Along with a healthy sense of competition, participating offers numerous educational benefits. Students develop essential soft skills that apply to everyday life, including teamwork, problem-solving and effective communication. They created and practiced elevator pitches and community outreach for sponsorships. The preparation for the competition has also given students who wouldn’t typically collaborate a chance to become friends with each other.
Parker Gutierrez, a Fairview High School senior and Tidal Tech team member, described designing and building an underwater ROV as a mix of creative thinking and trial and error. “There’s been a lot of testing and redoing,” Gutierrez said. “We had buoyancy issues, and financially, we couldn’t get all the stuff other teams could. But we’ve made it work with what we have.”
Gutierrez is also one of Fairview’s chief science officers (CSOs) who promote science within the school community. This year’s CSO initiative involves partnering with Parkside School to teach gardening and plant science.
“Our goal is to teach the younger generation about how plants work, photosynthesis and why it matters,” he said. “It’s about spreading science awareness.”
For Lockhart, this program is more than a class — it’s a deep connection with her and her students, and an opportunity to learn something new.
“I signed up for this because I wanted to learn something new. I didn’t know how to build animatronics or ROVs, but now we’re figuring it out together,” she said. “Many of them had no idea what an underwater ROV even was. Now they’ve built one. They’ve failed, learned and done something hard. That’s what matters.”
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