For the second year in a row, a robotics team made up of Santa Cruz County high school students won third place at the MATE ROV Competition World Championship at the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Alpena, Michigan.
The 15-member Hephaestus Robotics Team, part of the Santa Cruz COE X Academy Robotics Clubs, competed against 39 high school teams from 12 countries in the Ranger Class.
The Robotics Clubs program, now in its second year, is a partnership between the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and nonprofit X Academy. It gives high school students the opportunity for hands-on experience in designing, building, and piloting underwater robots at no cost to participants.
This year, 52 students across 17 schools participated in weekly build sessions in Santa Cruz and Watsonville under the guidance of 14 volunteer mentors. “We’re proud to be the only team to place in the top five for three consecutive years — a testament to how well our students mentor and develop new team members,” said Tim Sylvester, X Academy founder.
The MATE ROV World Championship challenges students to solve real-world marine conservation and technology problems, from tracking invasive water species, identifying shipwrecks and lost cargo, and maintaining solar and offshore wind energy infrastructure.
Fifteen students across seven schools represented the Santa Cruz COE X Academy Robotics Clubs at the World Championship:
Aptos High School
- Arlo Tatum
Kirby School
- Sam Imahara
Pacific Collegiate School
- Daphne Bingham
- Sophia Casaletto
- Julia Tick
- Amber Williams
Santa Cruz High School
- Blaise Benoit-Corey
- Arthur Guihaire
- Bennet Menzer
Sapphire School
- Rowan Delander
Sequoia High School
- Anthony Arguello
- Carlos Ortiz-Lopez
Soquel High School
- Matthew Hofmann
- Nathan Hofmann
- Nathanael Marcus
To learn more about the Santa Cruz COE X Academy Robotics Clubs, click here.
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