Hackley Shines at MATE World Championships in Underwater Robotics

Hackley’s team, composed of recently graduated seniors Cydnee Copeland ’24, Travis Knaggs ’24 and Sam Nadol ’24, along with Mateo Arencibia ’26 and Ben Iaderosa ’26, earned their spot by winning the MATE Pennsylvania regional. From June 19 to 22, these remarkable students demonstrated their skills at the Kingsport Aquatic Center, competing against 82 teams from 17 countries in a series of challenging underwater robotics tasks.

 

The MATE ROV Competition is a renowned platform that pushes students to the forefront of real-world underwater technology, with this year’s theme being "Creating Solutions." Participants engaged in missions that simulated real-world ROV tasks, including expanding the Global Ocean Observing System, protecting ecosystems, and developing ocean-based climate solutions. The competition involved such innovative mission tasks as deploying advanced ocean observing assets, installing submarine telecommunications cables, administering probiotics to heal diseased coral, identifying healthy habitats for lake sturgeon, and deploying autonomous robotic floats to monitor ocean health.

Our Hackley team’s dedication, creativity and hard work were truly inspiring, and we are incredibly proud of their outstanding achievement on the global stage.