A group of eight recent engineering graduates from the Faculty of Engineering at Alexandria University have developed an innovative award-winning automated submarine, building upon a project which began during their university studies.
In a televised interview, the students said the submarine is capable of repairing underwater oil-lines and recording underwater photography.
One student explained that they decided on developing the project after participating in an international contest on autonomous submarines, hosted in the United States.
“We observed that there is no presence for such submarines in Arab countries, so we decided to develop a similar one in Egypt,” Abdel Rahman Magdi said in a statement televised on the privately-owned On TV.
The students spent years developing the submarine design during their university studies, with design costs accumulating to over 50,000 EGP.
Their commitment proved to be fruitful after their design was awarded first place in the International Competition for Automated Submarines.
The prestigious competition, organized by the US Center for Marine Science and Technologies, in collaboration with the American Science Foundation, the US Department of Aerospace and Space, and major US universities and research institutions, is an opportunity for discovering innovative ideas to help shape the future of maritime services, oil provision, and maritime support. It is considered one of the most important global competitions for the development of underwater technologies.
Building upon their remarkable success, the eight recent graduates have founded a company, ‘Vortex’, to further develop the project.
The next vision in their sights is designing a model with the capacity to delve 25 meters underwater.
Though, with the appropriate funding to provide tools and technologies, they are hopeful of building one to dive much further.
