The district of Cambridge prides itself on its quirky and progressive community, and here at CRLS, the Underwater Robotics Club holds those words in tandem when diving deep into region-wide competitions. When not at those competitions, they are working hard at CRLS after school hours to design new machines and test them out. The team is currently working on their next ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) that will remove things from the pool bottom, bring things down from the surface, measure things, follow a distinct path through a course, and lift/turn a number of props. The specifications for the mission are released by the organization MATE (who also hosts the competitions). Mr. McGuinness, the faculty advisor of the club, gives an example of just how big these events can be. “We compete in the New England Regional each year, but we have also competed in multiple national and international competitions from the Kennedy Space center in Fl. to UC Santa Barbara (National Champs) and the NASA test facility in Houston, where the astronauts train.” This year the experienced team are looking to make nationals in Tennessee. One of the leaders of the team, Frances Oppenheimer, shares an insider’s look at the club. “Our team is really close. We all joke around at meetings, set goals with food incentives, and help each other to learn and build as much as we can. I’ve learned so much through Underwater Robotics, about teamwork, leadership, and engineering.” The Underwater Robotics club seems to have a tightly knit community, and while the process of making a fully waterproof machine may seem daunting, the team seems fully equipped to perform at a national level.