Ten students spanning from Forks to Port Townsend came together to participate in the Olympic Coast MATE ROV Competition where the teens were able to try out their ROV’s (remotely operated vehicles) and put the devices to the test.

Recently held at the Forks Athletic and Aquatic Club, students from Forks Intermediate School, Lake Quinault High School, Quileute Tribal School, and Port Townsend OCEAN School competed in the underwater robotics event under two different class groups; Scout class and the more advanced Navigator class. 

The all-girls team from Forks, Roxy Rovers, took first place in Scout class, while The Axolotls team from Lake Quinault High took first place in the Navigator class.

Second-place awards went to the Water Novas of Forks for Scout class and Seawolf Solutions of Quileute for Navigator class, and third place went to Forks’ Squid Squad for Scout class and the Bronze Whalers of Lake Quinault High School for Navigator class.

The MATE ROV Competition encourages students from the Peninsula to learn and apply science, technology, engineering, and math skills as they develop their underwater robots to complete missions based on real-world issues and challenges, with the theme and missions of the competition changing each year.

This year’s contests were highlighting the role remotely operated vehicles play in the support of alternative energy, aquaculture, blue carbon, and Antarctica research.

In this year’s event, students were tasked with completing product demonstrations in a pool with their robot as well as creating a team company and working together to manufacture, market, and sell their products.

This simulated company approach promotes the development of entrepreneurship and leadership skills as students manage their project and budget, prepare marketing displays, and deliver engineering presentations, which would be necessary in future careers.

Local professionals and community members volunteer as judges for the competition, evaluating the students’ ROVs, marketing poster displays, and engineering presentations.

The MATE Olympic Coast ROV Competition is one of more than 36 regional contests held around the world and managed by the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center.

The Olympic Coast MATE ROV Competition is supported by local sponsors, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, North Pacific Coast Marine Resource Committee, and the Surfrider Foundation’s Olympic Peninsula Chapter.