Bob Richards

Robert “Bob” Richards is the Agriculture, Business and Technology Teacher at Stockbridge Jr/Sr High School in Stockbridge Michigan. He has been teaching in Stockbridge for the past 25 years. 

Bob graduated from Stockbridge High School in 1982 and then enlisted in the U.S. Army where he spent the next nineteen years.  While in the Army he completed a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, a Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Administration and the requirements for teacher certification in Business and Marketing Education. 

After retiring from the Army, Bob returned to Stockbridge to begin his teaching career.  He has taught a variety of agriculture, business and technology classes in grades 7-12. 

In 2012 Mr. Richards and his students were asked to design, build and deploy underwater remotely operated vehicles or ROVs to assist the BentProp Project search for Missing World War II airmen in the Pacific Island Nation of Palau as part of our unique and innovative project based curriculum. 

Bob’s students have  also designed, built and deployed remote underwater cameras and water quality monitoring systems in the Great Lakes working with the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission to track sea lamprey and other invasive species.  This system was developed as a result of their participation in the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams Program and in the Microsoft Corporation’s #MakeWhatsNext, “Patent Program.” These programs put Stockbridge students in the realm of ‘Technology Creators” and “Inventors” as the team now has a patent for an “underwater camera and  water quality monitoring system.” U.S. Patent No. 10,690646

Bob and his students traveled to American Samoa to conduct research in the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa and to conduct an ROV workshop for high school and community college students during the 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 school years. During the 2019/2020 school year his students also participated in the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam Program with a student designed micro benthic lander which they tested in American Samoa and the Florida Keys. 

From 2022 to 2026 Bob’s students designed and built a Cube-Satellite that was launched into space on a Space X rocket in April of 2026. 

Bob’s students are currently redesigning a NASA STELLA Q2 Spectrometer for use in monitoring coral health.  Bob and his students will be testing this device in the Dominican Republic during the 2026/2027 school year.