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Ref. no.: 143

Thirty-seven teams from junior high and high schools from Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Ontario and Saint Pierre and Miquelon will compete in the 2026 Regional Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Competition from May 7-9.

The MATE ROV competition is an underwater robotics challenge that engages a global community of learners each year. MATE’s mission is to inspire and challenge students to learn and creatively apply STEM skills to solving real-world problems in a way that strengthens their critical thinking, collaboration, entrepreneurship and innovations, and prepares them for the blue economy workforce.

The event will take place at the Marine Institute (MI) campus at 155 Ridge Rd. in St. John’s, N.L.

Teams are required to design and construct an ROV that must complete a series of tasks while deployed in MI’s flume tank.

This year’s tasks align with the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-30) and highlight the Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences (2025-34) — a global effort to better understand and protect Earth’s frozen regions. Students are challenged to develop technologies that can operate in cold, dynamic and extreme environments, reflecting real-world ocean and cryosphere conditions.

The schedule for Scout (junior high) and Ranger (high school) competitions follows below.

Friday, May 8

• Scout competition: 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
• Scout awards presentation and closing ceremony: 5 p.m.
• Ranger opening ceremonies: 5-6 p.m.

Saturday, May 9

• Ranger competition: 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
• Ranger awards ceremony: 7:30 p.m.

The Scout and Ranger events will be live-streamed May 8-9 on  starting each morning at 9 a.m.

The top two teams from the Ranger competition will qualify for the 2026 World Championship MATE ROV Competition at the Marine Institute in St. John’s, N.L., from June 25-27.

The 2026 regional competition is supported by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Equinor, Hibernia Management and Development Company Limited, Cenovus Energy, Kraken Robotics, Newdock, DOF Subsea, Cooke Aquaculture, GRi Simulations Inc., Panmaritime, Fortis Inc., SEAMOR Marine Ltd., Sub C Imaging, Subsea7, Deep Trekker, Blusphere Innovations, Angler Solutions, Instrumar Ltd., INCOSE and the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University.

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For more information, please contact Ryan Hiscock, marketing, Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University, at (709) 757-0710 or Ryan.Hiscock@mi.mun.ca.