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An undergraduate student at SAMS, a partner of UHI, has charted a course to clean up the ocean after designing a semi-autonomous robotic surface vehicle to capture plastic waste.

Logan Andrick has been developing his technology after winning a award this year and has now partnered with Interface, Techscaler and the Catalyst programme from UHI. He is working on the project alongside his studies at SAMS, where he is undertaking a BSc in Marine Science with Oceanography and Robotics.

His idea is to deploy semi-autonomous and carbon-neutral surface vehicles that can clean up litter from any body of water, down to three metres. His primary focus will be on tackling the five oceanic garbage patches, beginning with the North Atlantic garbage patch.

In doing so, Logan hopes his technology can not only remove the macroplastic waste already in the oceans but also identify the entry points of the litter.

Logan said: “Marine plastic waste is a global issue. Not only have we detected notable marine plastic waste in every ocean basin globally, but it is a target issue in many rivers, lakes, streams, and estuaries.

“Our systematic approach is designed to be deployable in any body of water of sufficient depth, is carbon neutral, and will present no threat to local marine or terrestrial life.”

The American student began his fascination with technology during an internship at a marine engineering firm in his home state of Maine at the age of 17. Then, in his final year of high school, he set about trying to tackle the problem of marine waste.

“I had to prove that my idea would work and my school wanted me to come up with a plan to prove its real-world applicability and efficacy,” said Logan. “I only had three days to develop reasonable proof, but I managed to work it out and handed it into the school. They were satisfied the plan could work and told me that I could pursue the idea.”

The 21-year-old came to �鶹ӰԺin 2021 to join the BSc Marine Science programme but suffered bad health in his first two years, forcing him to shelve his business idea.

However, he revisited the plans when he became aware of the UHI Business Competition and, with the deadline looming, he pulled together all his research and models to present. 

“All my childhood I had wanted to be a marine biologist,” Logan said. “I remember at the age of five seeing my first Beluga whale, then at 17 I was leaning towards marine engineering because I wanted to come up with solutions to protect the oceans, for both the life therein and for future marine biologists to be able to have oceans to study.

“The course at �鶹ӰԺmade sense because it had the biology and the robotics elements.”

At the UHI Business Competition, Logan presented a ten-minute pitch to a panel of judges, followed by a Q&A session, and was awarded Best Tech Idea.

Since the competition, he has partnered with Interface and was approached to become part of Impact 30, an all-expenses-paid business development course completed in collaboration with UHI Inverness to help advise and develop burgeoning young business owners’ entrepreneurial endeavours. Logan also headed home to Maine to redesign, construct, and test a new proof of concept prototype to be used to further his progress on the project.

While Logan admits the past few months have been a bit of a whirlwind, he still has a dissertation to complete for his final year studies at SAMS.

“Everything has happened quite quickly.” he added. “I’m grateful for all the support I’ve received from my personal academic tutor and lecturers at SAMS, UHI and colleagues of mine both here and back home. I’m intrigued to see what my team and I can produce.” 

Entries to the 2025 UHI Business Competition are now open to all UHI students and anyone over 16 living in Argyll and Bute, Highlands and Islands, Moray, or Perthshire. This annual competition, now in its 19th year, seeks to discover and support innovative business ideas, giving participants a strong start on their own entrepreneurial journeys.

Run by CREATE, the Highlands and Islands Hub for Enterprise and Innovation, the competition equips participants with essential entrepreneurial skills for work, life and self-employment. This year, a total prize fund of £8,500 is available, alongside support packages in accountancy, legal advice and information technology. Finalists will also receive invaluable feedback from leading regional business experts.

The UHI Business Competition webpage can found here: