Declan DePietro

Declan DePietro, a fifth year BS/MS Ocean Engineering student in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, is a scholar and an accomplished international submarine racing competitor. In fact, DePietro's worked last semester on the design of a contra-rotating propulsion systems with Dr. Siddharta Verma from the Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering. When tested it is expected to result in FAU having created a more powerful and faster submarine for the FAU Marine Robotic Club's RoboBoat team where DePierto serves as president and chief naval architect.

"The accomplishments I am most proud of are helping lead FAU to be the fastest college one-man submarine on an international stage at the 2017 International Submarine Races (ISR) held at the Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center," said DePierto, a former two time New York State varsity rowing champion from Manhasset High School in Long Island, New York.

The following year, as Vice President, DePierto was able to help guide the team to a third-place overall finish at the 2018 European International Submarine Races (EISR) held in Gosport, England where FAU also received the BMT Award for Engineering Innovation.

This past year, as president, DePierto lead the team that engineered, fabricated, and raced what is currently the fastest human powered submarine in the United States that also achieved a standing of third-best team in the world at the 2019 ISR.

On the academic side, DePietro earned an FAU Presidential scholarship and was admitted into the Florida Epsilon chapter of the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society.