
The robotics team from Santa Cruz based X Academy hold up their remotely operated submersible robot, which won them fifth place at the MATE ROV world championship held in Longmont, Colo. this year. (Credit: X Academy)
SANTA CRUZ — The robotics team from Cabrillo College and a group of students from the local science and math advocacy nonprofit, X Academy, hailing from high schools throughout Santa Cruz County, took home wins at the 21st annual MATE ROV world championship, which challenges student teams from around the globe to build submersible robots to complete a series of tasks based on real world scenarios such as planting coral or searching for a shipwreck.
The Marine Advanced Technology Education center was founded in 1997 by the Monterey Peninsula College through a grant from the National Science Foundation, and started its submersible…