Contacts:

NY Sea Grant: Dave White, P: 315-312-3042, E: dgw9@cornell.edu

Great NY State Fair Media Relations: Dave Bullard, P: 315-487-7711 x 1377, E: dave.bullard@agriculture.ny.gov

Publicist Kara Lynn Dunn, P: 315-465-7578, E: karalynn@gisco.net

Syracuse, NY, August 28, 2015 - New York Sea Grant, the Great New York State Fair, and the Great Lakes Research Consortium are pleased to announce the schedule of in-water Remotely-Operated Underwater (ROV) Demo Days presented by four area school districts and SUNY Oswego at the 2015 Great New York State Fair.
 
The 10am to 4pm demonstrations are part of "The Lakes of NY: Over, Under, On and Through, 21st Century Technologies" Exhibit coordinated by NY Sea Grant with components on land and in the reflecting pool at the mini NY State Park at the 2015 Fair.

Photo (above): State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) graduate student Frances Knickmeyer prepares to launch a demonstration of a remotely operated vehicle in the State Fair Park pool at the 2014 Great New York State Fair. The demos are being offered again at the 2015 Fair as part of the new Lakes of NY Over, Under, Around and Through: 21st Century Technologies Exhibit. Photo: New York Sea Grant
 
Middle school, high school and college students have built ROVs: remotely operated vehicles, and will demonstrate them in the reflecting pool of the mini-NY State Park at the Fair as follows:

• Monday, August 31: Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Central School
• Tuesday, September 1: Chittenango Central School
• Wednesday, September 2: Cicero-North Syracuse Central School
• Friday, September 4: Central Square Central School
• Saturday, September 5: State University of New York at Oswego.

The students are using SeaPerch ROV kits developed in partnership with the Office of Naval Research, which coordinates the science and technology programs of the U.S Navy and Marine Corps. Science, technology, engineering and math educators and robotics classes nationwide used the kits as educational tools.
 
The students will maneuver the ROVs through an obstacle course in the reflecting pool with images transmitted to a large video screen in the exhibit tent.
 
"These ROV Demo Days provide Fair visitors a closeup look at technology and its practical application for understanding the unique water resources of New York State," said New York Sea Grant Coastal Recreation and Tourism Specialist Dave White, Associate Director of the Great Lakes Research Consortium, and coordinator of the Lakes of NY Exhibit.
 
Other components of the Lakes of NY exhibit include the 2015 Discover Clean and Safe Boating educational vessel, a Great Lakes Research Consortium weather-sensing buoy, and information on aerial drones being used by Buffalo State University for aquatic invasive species research in Western NY.

For more news on clean and safe boating, New York Sea Grant related resource site, www.nyseagrant.org/marina.


New York Sea Grant is featuring remotely-operated underwater vehicles at the Great New York State Fair. This feature is part of "Lakes of NY: Over, Under, Around and Through, 21st Century Technologies," NYSG's partner exhibit with the Great Lakes Research Consortium at the Fair, which is being held at the NYS Fairgrounds in Syracuse, NY from August 27 through September 7, 2015.

More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, is one of 33 university-based programs under the National Sea Grant College Program (NSGCP) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The NSGCP engages this network of the nation’s top universities in conducting scientific research, education, training and extension projects designed to foster science-based decisions about the use and conservation of our aquatic resources. Through its statewide network of integrated services, NYSG has been promoting coastal vitality, environmental sustainability, and citizen awareness about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources since 1971.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube links. NYSG also offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/coastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published several times a year.