Nine months of late nights, countless repairs and more than 100 hours spent testing an underwater robot in a swimming pool paid off in a big way for a team of Santa Cruz County high school students.
Hephaestus Robotics, a 21-member team representing eight county high schools, captured first place in the Ranger Class at the 2026 MATE ROV World Championship on June 27 in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, earning the program’s first world title after finishing third in each of the past two years.
The victory came against 47 high school teams from 13 countries competing in the Ranger division, one of several classes at the international competition, which featured 86 teams from 16 countries.
Among the team members was Pajaro Valley High School student Raul Lopez, who said the experience changed the way he thinks about engineering and teamwork.
“This experience taught me how to work within a big team made of smaller teams, an experience I hope to contribute to building a MATE ROV college team at CSUMB,” said Lopez, who will attend Cal State Monterey Bay this fall to study mechatronics.
The team qualified for the world championship by winning the MATE Monterey Bay Regional ROV Competition in April.
At the three-day world championship, students operated a remotely operated underwater vehicle in facilities designed to simulate real ocean conditions, including a 1.7 million-liter flume tank and a wave basin.
Their robot completed a series of tasks modeled after real marine science and offshore engineering work, including replacing a simulated environmental DNA sensor, recovering an anchor buoy and deploying an autonomous float capable of maintaining depth while collecting data.
Students also used professional sonar equipment to locate simulated marine debris.
“Rather than simply simulating operations within a controlled pool, our team rose to the challenge of performing real-world ocean protection,” said Santa Cruz High School student Elle Williams, who piloted the robot during the bonus mission. “We deployed a professional sonar tool on our ROV to scan for and identify ghost gear and debris in the Atlantic Ocean. That was amazing.”
The competition extends well beyond building a robot.
Teams operate as mock engineering companies, preparing technical reports, budgets, marketing materials and formal presentations that are judged by professionals from the marine technology industry.
Mission Director Sam Imahara of Kirby School said the championship reflected months of persistence.
“Competing on the world stage against so many talented teams was an unforgettable experience,” he said. “As the electronics lead, seeing our countless hours of late-night troubleshooting, complex wiring, and system integration culminate in a world title is wildly rewarding.”
Float Team Vice President Amber Williams of Pacific Collegiate School said the team’s success was especially satisfying after setbacks earlier in the season.
“These many months of continuously fixing issues and dedication led us to finally achieving the full 85 points, something only three out of 47 teams managed to do,” she said. “After watching the float fail at regionals, having everything come together at worlds felt incredible.”
The team includes students from Pacific Collegiate, Sequoia, Soquel, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, Pajaro Valley, Sapphire and Kirby schools.
Tim Sylvester, founder of nonprofit X Academy and the team’s lead mentor, said the championship reflects the diversity of the students involved and the commitment they showed throughout the school year.
“Our team brought together students from across Santa Cruz County, including the children of Silicon Valley tech workers, doctors, carpenters, electricians, and farmworkers,” he said. “After nine months of hard work and more than 100 hours of practice in the pool, they truly earned this win.”
Hephaestus Robotics is part of the Santa Cruz County Office of Education’s X Academy Robotics Clubs, a partnership that gives students free, hands-on experience in engineering, computer science, entrepreneurship and project management.
Since the partnership began in 2023, X Academy mentors have worked with more than 200 students from 15 high schools through weekly robotics sessions in Santa Cruz and Watsonville.
Santa Cruz County Superintendent of Schools Faris Sabbah said the world championship highlights what students can accomplish when they have access to hands-on learning opportunities.
“This championship is the result of years of student leadership, mentorship, problem-solving, and persistence,” Sabbah said. “The Hephaestus Robotics Team has shown what is possible when students have access to rigorous, hands-on learning and a community of mentors who believe in them.”
For graduating Sequoia High School student Carlos Ortiz-Lopez, the lessons learned extend beyond robotics.
“Being a part of the Hephaestus Team taught me to be relentless and to not give up no matter what gets thrown your way,” he said. “I will use this to help me become an apprentice electrician with the IBEW.”
