NEWPORT, R.I. – When high school students arrive at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport each summer to work alongside scientists and engineers for the Undersea Technology Apprentice Program (UTAP), they usually don’t know each other or much about underwater robotics. That changes quickly.
Held in two, three-week sessions, Monday through Thursday, in Division Newport’s Undersea Collaboration and Technology Outreach Center, the 25 students in each session are randomly sorted into five teams of five students. Once in teams, the students assign themselves specific roles and responsibilities.