Curiosity Meets Craft: How Shamus Mayo turned an MI Student Project into a Career in Subsea Technology

For Shamus Mayo, a career working beneath the ocean’s surface began with curiosity

Friday, August 28, 2026 By Jodi Cooke

Growing up, Shamus was drawn to anything mechanical. He was a hands-on learner who enjoyed figuring out how things worked.

His connection to the ocean also came naturally. With a father who spent part of his career in the Navy, Shamus grew up hearing about life at sea and travelling the world.

When he discovered that underwater vehicles could combine all his interests, like technology and hands-on problem-solving, to the ocean and exploration, something clicked.

“I loved taking things apart and putting them back together,” says Shamus, who was particularly drawn to the idea of exploring places most people will never see.

“There’s so much unknown in the ocean. Getting to see spaces that most people don’t get to see, getting to map and explore our oceans, I saw that as a privilege.”

That curiosity eventually led Shamus to the Marine Institute’s Underwater Vehicles program, where he developed technical skills to operate, maintain and repair remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).

Learning by doing

The three-year Underwater Vehicles Diploma of Technology program is designed around hands-on learning. Students develop skills in areas including mission planning, high-resolution ocean data collection, subsea robotics and the deployment and retrieval of underwater vehicles.

For Shamus, the opportunity to work directly with the equipment was one of the most valuable parts of the experience and the Marine Institute’s facilities gave him and his classmates frequent opportunities to fly.

“We were down there weekly,” Shamus says. “When we first did the AUV and ROV program, it was great to go out into the field and test the equipment that MI had to offer us.”

Students worked with different payloads and technologies, including side-scan sonar, and had opportunities to map areas such as the seafloor around Holyrood, while training at Mi’s state of the art facility, The Launch.

Newfoundland to Norway

His work-term experience also took him to Norway, where he worked with a company alongside saturation divers.

“It was cool to see what only a few people get to see,” he says.

The experience gave him another perspective on the subsea industry and strengthened his interest in building a career that could take him around the world.

A project with purpose

One of the defining experiences of Shamus’s time at the Marine Institute was the AUV Design Project.

Working with instructor Craig Bulger and alongside MUN PhD Engineering candidate Qian Zhong, Shamus became involved in a project focused on developing a new way to collect microplastic samples below the ocean’s surface.

The project grew on an existing collection principle that used a fine mesh filter to capture microplastics from seawater.

Previously, the approach had primarily been used at the surface. The goal was to adapt the technology so it could be mounted to a small autonomous underwater vehicle and collect samples at different depths.

The result was a prototype that evolved into what is now known as the MC2 Microplastics Collector.

The first version served as ‘proof of concept’. The second version was designed to withstand the pressures associated with operating underwater without crushing or warping.

The collector was designed to mount to the front of a YUCO AUV, a small oceanographic research vehicle used to autonomously collect data underwater.

Seeing the idea progress from a classroom project to a functioning underwater system was especially rewarding.

“It was really exciting and cool to see it come to fruition,” he says. “When I first started this, I was interested because it sounded cool, but I didn’t expect it to get this far.”

The MC2 was subsequently tested at various depths.

“Currently, we have collected samples 1 meter below the ocean for 28 minutes, and the captured samples seem like nano plastic.” Qian says. “We did the pressure test at 100 meters for about half hour; the collector performed well.”

Inside the electronics pod, the system stores data from its dives and tests, recording information at one-second intervals.

Bringing technical skills to marine research

Shamus played a major role in developing the collector.

His contributions included programming, designing the electronics enclosure and creating a 3D-printed mounting system.

He also developed the 3D models used throughout the MC2 system, including the housing shell, geared collection gate, servo gear, collector and filter basket.

For Shamus, however, the project was about more than applying technical skills.

“I thought it was a fulfilling project to apply my skills to something genuinely good.”

The research also introduced him to a larger scientific question: how microplastics are distributed throughout the ocean at different depths.

Qian says understanding that distribution could help researchers develop three-dimensional models of microplastic pollution in specific ocean areas.

“Understanding how microplastics are distributed at different depths in the ocean can help researchers use mathematical models to develop three-dimensional maps of microplastic pollution.” Qian says. “This information can provide valuable insights for future research, support various agencies in decision-making, and contribute to a broader understanding of the distribution and potential impacts of microplastic pollution in the ocean.”

For Qian, collaboration between students, researchers and industry is an important part of advancing that work.

“Collaboration is a win-win,” she says. “It broadens the impact of our research and provides data to support future researchers and inform government policies and regulations.”

It also creates opportunities for students to contribute to research while developing skills that can carry into their careers.

Beneath the surface

The MC2 project was one example of how Shamus’s time at the Marine Institute connected classroom learning with real-world research and industry experience.

Today, he is working with Subsea7, an international subsea engineering and technology company, and is beginning to build a career that combines his technical interests with his desire to travel and explore the ocean.

Although Shamus has already moved from student projects into a subsea career, he has not finished learning.

He plans to pursue a Bachelor of Technology degree in the future, building on the technical foundation he developed at the Marine Institute.

For a student who first came to the Marine Institute wanting to understand how things worked, that curiosity has become something much bigger: a career helping others understand what is happening beneath the surface.