X Academy takes 3rd Place in the MATE ROV World Championship!

Thirteen students from 6 different Santa Cruz County high schools competed against 38 teams from 11 countries.

The Hephaestus Robotics team demonstrated their engineering talent at the MATE ROV World Championship competition in Kingsport, TN June 20-22. We couldn’t be prouder of this team - who persevered when their float failed, practiced hours upon hours to get their engineering presentation down tight, and had a ton of fun learning with each other in the process!

The Hephaestus Robotics Team received perfect scores on their engineering presentation and marketing poster and earned 285 out of 370 points for the demonstration of their: ROV (remotely operated vehicle) "Talos IV" and float "Vulcan III” completing mission tasks replicating real-world applications of ocean conservation and ecosystem protection.

Congratulations to Amber, Ben, Bennet, Blaise, Cole, Daniel, Kai, Matt, Max, Nate, Orlando, Sophia, and Uriel.

Thank you to our partner the Santa Cruz County Office of Education, for giving these students the opportunity to develop impressive engineering, design and problem-solving skills while boosting their confidence and sparking their imagination.  Thank you to all our donors who contributed over $40,000 to fund our trip. And special thanks to the mentor volunteers for tireless dedication to the development of these future problem solvers and engineers!