X Academy High School Robotics Team Heading to World Championship in Michigan

Help raise travel funds on June 7 at MJA Vineyards 

Eighteen high school students from schools across Santa Cruz County are heading to the MATE ROV World Championships at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Alpena, Michigan June 19-21. Having placed third in the World in 2024, the X Academy Hephaestus Robotics team has been enhancing their underwater ROV named Talos V and autonomous data-collecting float for months with high expectations to ‘bring home the gold’! 

To get this team to Michigan, the X Academy invites you to a fundraiser, June 7 from 7:00 to 10:00 pm generously hosted by MJA Vineyards Tasting Room in Santa Cruz. The evening will be filled with exceptional wines, delicious foods, a silent auction and stories of success and struggles overcome by the student team. Ticket sales and auction proceeds will cover airfare, hotel and meals enabling the team to compete on the world stage. 

In partnership with the Santa Cruz County Office of Education, the X Academy has mentored nearly 100 students since October in all aspects of engineering to design, build and test underwater remote operated vehicles and autonomous floats capable of collecting ocean data that resemble those used by scientists at MBARI. The Hephaestus Robotics team will test their engineering prowess against 40 other teams from around the world, including China, Macau, India, Canada, Hong Kong, Egypt, UK, Mexico, Australia and dozens of teams from across the United States. 

The MATE ROV competition requires student teams to organize as a startup company in response to an RFP to conduct ocean and water conservation missions. The X Academy team will be scored on its technical documentation, marketing poster, engineering presentation and product demonstration where the ROV must complete multiple simulated tasks including, collecting eDNA of invasive carp in the Illinois River, identifying shipwrecks and cargo in Lake Huron, maintain wind energy infrastructure and assess lake acidification by measuring CO2 and pH levels. 

X Academy is a nonprofit organization providing math and engineering out-of-school experiences for middle and high school students throughout Santa Cruz County. Tim Sylvester, founder of X Academy ten years ago, was recognized as a 2024 Titan of Tech by Santa Cruz Works.