Dr. Alok Verma, Director of Lean Institute at Old Dominion University organized two underwater robotics competitions under a project called MarineTech funded by the State Council of Higher Education of Virginia (SCHEV). On the morning of July 11, 2009, around 60 people, including students and their parents, gathered at Maury High School for the Sea Perch underwater robot competition. During the spring semester, students built Sea Perch robots with the help of their teachers for this competition. Nine teams participated in the competition.