CityU’s ROV –
Since 2006 the MATE Inspiration for Innovation (MATE II), formerly the Marine Advanced Technical Education (MATE) unit at Monterey Bay College, California have organised an international under water robot (ROV) competition, which has grown from a few teams in N America to now having 30 regional contests around the planet. Over 700 teams from 16 countries take part with the winners of the regional competitions going to the World Championships, this year in St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, from 25-27 June.
Hosted by the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University and the National Research Council Canada, the event marks the culmination of a global competition season, convening the top 86 teams from 16 countries from around the globe, including North America, Europe, Asia, and beyond.
Four Hong Kong teams will take part in the contest after coming top in the Hong Kong Regional held in late April. CityUHK will be attending their 18th finals and HKUST their 14th. They both qualified for the Explorer class events. LaSalle College qualified for the lower level Ranger class.
Currently organised by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Hong Kong the event took place on 25-26 April at the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Tsing Yi Campus). The Hong Kong Regional Contest attracted 25 teams from secondary schools (in Scout and Ranger Classes) and universities (in Explorer Class) from Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
The HKUST ROV team
The 2026 HKUST ROV Team has 30 undergraduates (12 female and 18 male students) across various disciplines, mostly first and second year students. They are supervised by Prof. Tim WOO, Director of the Centre for Global & Community Engagement, School of Engineering.
The CityU ROV team
The CityU ROV team consists of over 30 students from diverse disciplines including Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Physics. It is supervised by Prof Ray Cheung, Associate Provost (Digital Learning) and Professor of EE.
The La Salle College ROV team
Two teams from outside Hong Kong also qualified for the international event owing to their performance at the local competition. Pui Ching Middle School, Macau qualified for the Ranger class. and National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology team for Explorer.
The Hong Kong Regional MATE ROV Contest started in 2006, originally organised by CityU and WWF, with IET taking over in 2012. The contest has always been sponsored by local industry and engineering institutions. CityU (Explorer) and Shau Kei Wan Government Technical Secondary School (Ranger) were the first teams from outside N America to qualify and enter the World Finals, that year held at NASA Neutral Buoyancy Lab in Houston, Texas. The Hong Kong Regional initially hosted teams from all over Asia, from India, ASEAN, Greater China, Japan and Korea. These countries/regions now hold their own local contests.
Both CityU and HKUST have performed well at the World Championships. Both teams are regularly at the top of the rankings with CityU’s highest being 3rd and HKUST’s 2nd. Underwater Robotics was initiated in Hong Kong in 1996 when CityU’s EE Department was awarded a $3.6m grant by HKG Government to establish the Underwater Systems Laboratory, whose main aim was technology transfer of underwater technologies to Hong Kong.
Join the action LIVE every day. From watching ROV’s navigate the depths, hearing directly from teams at the competition, and recounting stories from the season, you won’t want to miss out!
https://www.twitch.tv/mateinspires1
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