Noble Deep Wins $10,000 Oceaneering Collegiate Award

A College of the Canyons student's autonomous underwater vehicle startup took home the prize at the Ocean Exchange event in Fort Lauderdale.

Updated on Nov. 11, 2026 in Robotics

A compact torpedo-shaped underwater vehicle hovers in clear blue-green ocean water above a rocky seafloor with kelp silhouettes in the distance. — Noble Deep, a startup led by College of the Canyons student Andrew Jimenez, won the $10,000 Oceaneering Collegiate Award at the Ocean Exchange in Fort Lauderdale on October 25-27. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Noble Deep, led by College of the Canyons electrical engineering student Andrew Jimenez, won the $10,000 Oceaneering Collegiate Award at the 2026 Ocean Exchange event held October 25-27 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Jimenez presented Casper, the company's autonomous underwater vehicle built to monitor subsea infrastructure.

Why it matters

The award gives a small student-run team funding to build a working demonstrator of Casper, a step toward securing pilot projects in subsea monitoring. The project also reflects growing student interest in alternatives to proposed deep-sea mining methods.

Noble Deep's Casper is an autonomous underwater vehicle designed to monitor subsea infrastructure, and the $10,000 award will fund its construction along with an associated charging station. The source does not disclose Casper's technical specifications such as depth rating or battery capacity.

The players

College of the Canyons

A public community college in Santa Clarita, California, whose student Andrew Jimenez is leading the Noble Deep project.

Oceaneering

An international offshore engineering company that sponsors the Oceaneering Collegiate Award for student innovation in subsea technology.

The details

Jimenez, who is also CEO of Noble Deep, was the only community college student among the 10 finalists. His research project, 'A Novel Robotic Approach for the Extraction of Manganese Nodules on the Seafloor,' led him to become interested in autonomous underwater vehicles out of concern that proposed mining methods could harm the environment.

Fall 2025: Jimenez joined College of the Canyons' Honors Transfer Research Council.
October 25-27, 2026: Ocean Exchange event held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where the award was presented.
Fall 2027: Jimenez plans to transfer to UC Berkeley to study electrical engineering.

The Tech Race

Autonomous underwater vehicles for subsea inspection have been a growing area of offshore engineering, with established firms such as Oceaneering already operating in the sector. Noble Deep's entry as a three-person student startup shows how smaller teams are seeking a foothold in that same competitive market.

For readers following robotics, the award highlights how student-built underwater vehicles could eventually be deployed to monitor pipelines and other subsea assets. The practical impact on daily life remains limited until Casper reaches a working demonstrator and pilot projects begin.

The takeaway

Student-led teams can compete for industry recognition in emerging fields like subsea robotics, and Jimenez's path from community college researcher to startup CEO shows how early research can turn into an entrepreneurial venture.

What happens next

Noble Deep plans to use the $10,000 prize to build Casper and its charging station, with the goal of a working demonstrator to secure pilot projects; no dates for these milestones were given.