International Submarine Races 2013 Awards

MarineLink.com July 8, 2013

Submarine entrant in 11th series: Photo courtesy of isrsubrace.org

20 teams demonstrated their engineering prowess in week-long human-powered design competition.

Intelligent Decisions (ID), Inc., a global IT systems integrator, congratulates Virginia Tech HPS and their vessel “Phantom 6” as the winner of the ID Innovation Award at the 12th International Submarine Races (ISR).

The sponsors also recognizes the efforts of the University of Washington: HPS Team and their vessel “Wolverine 2” for their second place Innovation Award and OMER’s vessel “OMER 8” for their third place Innovation Award.

ID has sponsored the races and the Innovation Award since 2011. The ISR, which took place June 24-28th were hosted by the Foundation for Undersea Research and Education, and the NAVSEA Naval Surface Warfare Center’s (NSWC) Carderock Division, to provide an educational opportunity for aspiring young engineers. Each participating team is responsible for the design, construction, and operation of a human-powered submarine.

“Intelligent Decisions is proud to support an event that encourages innovation and creative thinking skills. I would like to congratulate all the participants’ hard work that brought these vessels to fruition.” said Harry Martin, president and CEO of Intelligent Decisions. “The hands-on learning that goes into designing and developing one of these vessels is valuable for young people pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.”

Started in 1989, this year marked the 12th International Submarine Races that are held on a biennial basis. The human-powered vessels are known worldwide for putting the engineering skills learned in the classroom and lab to the test while fostering hands-on creativity, problem solving and teamwork. The races prepare young people to compete in the global technology economy.

This year’s event featured competition by 20 teams and 22 vessels from high schools, colleges, universities, and private groups. The teams wore scuba gear and navigated their submarines along an underwater 100-meter course at the NSWC-Carderock Division’s David Taylor Model Basin Facility, which serves as the U.S. Navy’s test tank for ships and ship systems.