The MATE ROV Competition is an underwater robotics (aka remotely operated vehicles or ROVs) engineering challenge that engages thousands of K-16 students from across the country and around the world each year. Students work collaboratively to design and build an ROV to accomplish tasks based on real-world scenarios. The competition’s entrepreneurial, business-oriented approach requires students to organize themselves into companies that, in addition to the ROV, produce technical reports, engineering presentations, and marketing displays and present these to working professionals who volunteer their time and technical expertise as judges. In addition to technical skills, the competition fosters the development of employability skills, such as the ability to think creatively, innovate, problem solve, work as a team, communicate, adapt to changing situations, and manage a project.
COVID-19 resulted in the cancellation of the 2020 MATE ROV Competition season; therefore, this video includes footage from previous events.
Despite the continued impact of the pandemic, we have found creative ways to continue to engage our global community of learners during this, the 2021 season - from establishing a TELEPRESENCE: Remotely Connecting to Your Competition Experience category for those teams not able to attend in person to working with the National Center for Autonomous Technologies (NCAT) on the MATE ROV Competition VR World: Virtual Reality for Social Engagement. We have also created satellite challenges that leverage industry partners, such as Microsoft, and other NSF grants, such as the MATE Floats! Challenge that is part of the Global Ocean Biogeochemistry Array project funded under Ocean Sciences.
Engineering, Technology, Workforce Development
MATE Inspiration for Innovation, East Tennesee St Univ
The business-oriented approach is very clever. I would imagine you are able to tap into entrepreneurial-minded students as well as STEM minded students. It would be exciting the see how the competition worked out with remote competitors. That in itself is another engineering challenge!
Jill Zande
Lead Presenter President/Executive Director
May 10, 2021 | 05:48 p.m.
Hi Jennifer,
Thank you - and indeed it will be! We did test out broadcasting our livestream from a MATE regional event into our VR (AltSpace) World on May 1st. It was interesting (and a little weird!) to be on the pool deck and in the space as an avatar watching a video of myself on the pool deck. We're going to ramp that up for the 2021 MATE World Championship in-person event, which is taking place August 5-7 on the campus of East Tennessee State University. I hope that you'll tune in!
Jill
Jill Zande
Lead Presenter President/Executive Director
May 11, 2021 | 01:37 p.m.
Hello all,
Thank you for taking the time to explore how the MATE ROV Competition is EXCITING - EDUCATING - and EMPOWERING students from around the globe to engineer solutions to global problems - from remediating the impact of plastic pollution in our oceans to maintaining healthy waterways.
While COVID-19 challenged us, it also inspired us to think differently and to reimagine what the competition will look like this season. In addition to an in-person event with social distancing and mask-wearing protocols in place, we are allowing students to compete via "telepresence" where they submit their required materials and videos of their underwater robots in operation to us for evaluation. We've also worked with our partners at the National Center for Autonomous Technologies to create the MATE ROV Competition VR World in AltSpace as a way to facilitate the social interaction and peer-to-peer networking that we know students appreciate and value about the MATE competition and are especially craving during this pandemic.
Again, thank you for taking the time to learn more - go ahead and dive in!
I remember judging a MATE competition in American Samoa - just the business presentations. The business plan section allowed the students to infuse their culture into the science process and bring it totally into their world and dreams. The singing parts blew us away. I was ready to buy into one company without even seeing how their actual ROV did. And given the Tik Tok world they live in, can see how this may carry on in the future as part of a business presentation.
Jill Zande
Lead Presenter President/Executive Director
May 11, 2021 | 04:58 p.m.
Hi Mark,
Thank you for supporting the newly "minted" MATE American Samoa Regional ROV Competition! I agree - and we are looking at ways to transform the marketing (poster) display into a "digital" marketing piece. The students and faculty who we are working with at East Tennessee State University are helping us to envision and spec that out. You may see it in next year's competition manuals!
Jill
Meghan Marrero
Higher Ed Faculty
May 11, 2021 | 09:24 p.m.
The MATE competition continues to serve as an inspirational entry point for students of all backgrounds. Kudos!
Jill Zande
Lead Presenter President/Executive Director
May 12, 2021 | 11:41 a.m.
Thank you, Meghan! Of course I agree!
Gerhard Salinger
Facilitator Former Program Officer (NSF)
May 11, 2021 | 09:46 p.m.
The MATE ROV competition has grown over the years and appears to contiue to grow. Can you give us some numbers of teams, etc. How is it done at the local level? What are your metrics for success? What data do you have on impact on student success?
Jill Zande
Lead Presenter President/Executive Director
May 12, 2021 | 11:54 a.m.
Hello Gerhard,
Nice to hear from you! Yes, the program continues to grow - from one regional in 2001 to 42 regionals today, all of which lead to a World Championship. It's been an honor to be at the helm!
Our Regional Competition Network is key to the program’s success. We provide the competition infrastructure (theme/tasks, registration system, regional web sites, etc.) and technical and logistical support. Through our network of working professionals and organizations, we also connect our regional partners with volunteers, facilities, and other in-kind and technical support. Our partners carry out the program in their regions (i.e., offer professional development workshops, student skill building activities, hold competition events) and contribute to the program’s sustainability by administering surveys and other evaluation tools that help us to demonstrate program impact.
Jennifer - what a great video and program, I was involved with MATE when I taught science in Alaska almost a decade ago and so great to see that it is alive, well and growing. Currently my STEM work is more international, working with schools and institutions in Uzbekistan to help them develop and expand STEM for all in their schools. It looks like from the video that there is a strong international component and I'd love to see if perhaps MATE could take root in Central Asia. Any chance that you could connect me with someone to talk with about possibilities? For covid times I am a STEM educator in Burlington, VT - but still very connected with UZB and anxiously awaiting new opportunities for international collaborations.
Jill Zande
Lead Presenter President/Executive Director
May 12, 2021 | 03:18 p.m.
Hi Allan,
Great to hear from you and that you have a tie to MATE! We do have a huge international component (our fastest growing regions are the Middle East/North Africa and Asia) and would welcome teams from UZB/Central Asia. Please feel free to reach out to me (Jill Zande) directly at jzande@marinetech.org
Great to see that you are still up to wonderful things. Hope you have a wonderful summer of engagement!
Jill Zande
Lead Presenter President/Executive Director
May 12, 2021 | 06:12 p.m.
Thanks, Michael! It is great to hear from you!
Dennis Courtney
Higher Ed Administrator
May 12, 2021 | 09:24 p.m.
Well done MATE II!
Jill Zande
Lead Presenter President/Executive Director
May 13, 2021 | 01:47 a.m.
Thank you, Dennis Courtney!!! You have been an amazing regional partner. We look forward to continuing to work with you and your partners to bring MATE to rural communities in the great state of Tennessee!
MATE sounds exciting! Robots underwater! And the level of student engagement and creativity is inspiring! thank you!
Jill Zande
Lead Presenter President/Executive Director
May 13, 2021 | 11:20 a.m.
It is exciting! The "wet" factor along with the pressure increasing with depth make it even more challenging.
Jill
Joselina Cheng
Facilitator Professor
May 13, 2021 | 02:38 p.m.
What a powerful combination of software (e.g. AI) and hardware (e.g. machine learning). This type of technology can be designed to address many potential issues such as navy to repair submarine, assess ocean floor and coral reef damage due to the climate change, pollution, etc.
Jill Zande
Lead Presenter President/Executive Director
May 13, 2021 | 03:45 p.m.
Thank you, Joselina! Our competition "alumni" have been instrumental in keeping the program relevant by working with us to incorporate AI into the mission tasks. We also have a separate, "satellite challenge" that focused specifically on AI/machine learning that was created in partnership with Microsoft and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. Check out https://materovcompetition.org/content/2021-mat...
So happy the MATE competitions are still going strong! I know from firsthand experience how empowering this experience can be for students (and teachers) from back in the days when I helped coordinate it at the aquarium. It's such a great real-world application of STEM and invigorates kids who wouldn't typically get involved in these activities. I keep trying to get an ROV club going at my kids tiny school in NH. They even have a pond they could practice in!
Keep up the good work Jill and team!
Jill Zande
Lead Presenter President/Executive Director
May 17, 2021 | 05:58 p.m.
Hi Joy,
Great to hear from you - it's been forever! Thank you for your kind words. Keep on trying in NH - let me know if you need help!
Jennifer Kidd
The business-oriented approach is very clever. I would imagine you are able to tap into entrepreneurial-minded students as well as STEM minded students. It would be exciting the see how the competition worked out with remote competitors. That in itself is another engineering challenge!
Jill Zande
President/Executive Director
Hi Jennifer,
Thank you - and indeed it will be! We did test out broadcasting our livestream from a MATE regional event into our VR (AltSpace) World on May 1st. It was interesting (and a little weird!) to be on the pool deck and in the space as an avatar watching a video of myself on the pool deck. We're going to ramp that up for the 2021 MATE World Championship in-person event, which is taking place August 5-7 on the campus of East Tennessee State University. I hope that you'll tune in!
Jill
Jill Zande
President/Executive Director
Hello all,
Thank you for taking the time to explore how the MATE ROV Competition is EXCITING - EDUCATING - and EMPOWERING students from around the globe to engineer solutions to global problems - from remediating the impact of plastic pollution in our oceans to maintaining healthy waterways.
While COVID-19 challenged us, it also inspired us to think differently and to reimagine what the competition will look like this season. In addition to an in-person event with social distancing and mask-wearing protocols in place, we are allowing students to compete via "telepresence" where they submit their required materials and videos of their underwater robots in operation to us for evaluation. We've also worked with our partners at the National Center for Autonomous Technologies to create the MATE ROV Competition VR World in AltSpace as a way to facilitate the social interaction and peer-to-peer networking that we know students appreciate and value about the MATE competition and are especially craving during this pandemic.
Again, thank you for taking the time to learn more - go ahead and dive in!
Jill
Mark Heckman
I remember judging a MATE competition in American Samoa - just the business presentations. The business plan section allowed the students to infuse their culture into the science process and bring it totally into their world and dreams. The singing parts blew us away. I was ready to buy into one company without even seeing how their actual ROV did. And given the Tik Tok world they live in, can see how this may carry on in the future as part of a business presentation.
Jill Zande
President/Executive Director
Hi Mark,
Thank you for supporting the newly "minted" MATE American Samoa Regional ROV Competition! I agree - and we are looking at ways to transform the marketing (poster) display into a "digital" marketing piece. The students and faculty who we are working with at East Tennessee State University are helping us to envision and spec that out. You may see it in next year's competition manuals!
Jill
Meghan Marrero
The MATE competition continues to serve as an inspirational entry point for students of all backgrounds. Kudos!
Jill Zande
President/Executive Director
Thank you, Meghan! Of course I agree!
Gerhard Salinger
Former Program Officer (NSF)
The MATE ROV competition has grown over the years and appears to contiue to grow. Can you give us some numbers of teams, etc. How is it done at the local level? What are your metrics for success? What data do you have on impact on student success?
Jill Zande
President/Executive Director
Hello Gerhard,
Nice to hear from you! Yes, the program continues to grow - from one regional in 2001 to 42 regionals today, all of which lead to a World Championship. It's been an honor to be at the helm!
Our Regional Competition Network is key to the program’s success. We provide the competition infrastructure (theme/tasks, registration system, regional web sites, etc.) and technical and logistical support. Through our network of working professionals and organizations, we also connect our regional partners with volunteers, facilities, and other in-kind and technical support. Our partners carry out the program in their regions (i.e., offer professional development workshops, student skill building activities, hold competition events) and contribute to the program’s sustainability by administering surveys and other evaluation tools that help us to demonstrate program impact.
Here are post-competition survey results from our latest (2019) competition season as well as highlights of our 2020 MATE ROV Competition “alumni” survey – please see https://files.materovcompetition.org/images/infographics/2020MATEInfographicWEB.pdf. Happy to share more!
Jill
Gabi Ashford
Fantastic video! Good Job!
Jill Zande
President/Executive Director
Thank you, Gabi!
Allan Miller
Jennifer - what a great video and program, I was involved with MATE when I taught science in Alaska almost a decade ago and so great to see that it is alive, well and growing. Currently my STEM work is more international, working with schools and institutions in Uzbekistan to help them develop and expand STEM for all in their schools. It looks like from the video that there is a strong international component and I'd love to see if perhaps MATE could take root in Central Asia. Any chance that you could connect me with someone to talk with about possibilities? For covid times I am a STEM educator in Burlington, VT - but still very connected with UZB and anxiously awaiting new opportunities for international collaborations.
Jill Zande
President/Executive Director
Hi Allan,
Great to hear from you and that you have a tie to MATE! We do have a huge international component (our fastest growing regions are the Middle East/North Africa and Asia) and would welcome teams from UZB/Central Asia. Please feel free to reach out to me (Jill Zande) directly at jzande@marinetech.org
I'll look forward to hearing from you!
Jill
Michael Briscoe
Great to see that you are still up to wonderful things. Hope you have a wonderful summer of engagement!
Jill Zande
President/Executive Director
Thanks, Michael! It is great to hear from you!
Dennis Courtney
Well done MATE II!
Jill Zande
President/Executive Director
Thank you, Dennis Courtney!!! You have been an amazing regional partner. We look forward to continuing to work with you and your partners to bring MATE to rural communities in the great state of Tennessee!
Jill
Toby Baker
MATE sounds exciting! Robots underwater! And the level of student engagement and creativity is inspiring! thank you!
Jill Zande
President/Executive Director
It is exciting! The "wet" factor along with the pressure increasing with depth make it even more challenging.
Jill
Joselina Cheng
Professor
What a powerful combination of software (e.g. AI) and hardware (e.g. machine learning). This type of technology can be designed to address many potential issues such as navy to repair submarine, assess ocean floor and coral reef damage due to the climate change, pollution, etc.
Jill Zande
President/Executive Director
Thank you, Joselina! Our competition "alumni" have been instrumental in keeping the program relevant by working with us to incorporate AI into the mission tasks. We also have a separate, "satellite challenge" that focused specifically on AI/machine learning that was created in partnership with Microsoft and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. Check out https://materovcompetition.org/content/2021-mat...
Jill
Janice Walker
Great video, Jill! What a wonderful way to engage students in learning.
Janice Walker, NCyTE Center
Jill Zande
President/Executive Director
Thank you, Janice!
Yolanda Abel
Associate Professor
Jill, love the focus on the fast-pace of the competition to simulate real-work life experiences in a STEM-dominated workplace.
Jill Zande
President/Executive Director
Thank you, Yolanda!
Joy Kubarek
So happy the MATE competitions are still going strong! I know from firsthand experience how empowering this experience can be for students (and teachers) from back in the days when I helped coordinate it at the aquarium. It's such a great real-world application of STEM and invigorates kids who wouldn't typically get involved in these activities. I keep trying to get an ROV club going at my kids tiny school in NH. They even have a pond they could practice in!
Keep up the good work Jill and team!
Jill Zande
President/Executive Director
Hi Joy,
Great to hear from you - it's been forever! Thank you for your kind words. Keep on trying in NH - let me know if you need help!
Jill
Further posting is closed as the event has ended.