The 2026 MATE ROV Competition World Championship will welcome top student teams from around the world to St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada. Now in its 24th year, this internationally recognized competition brings together students to showcase their skills in engineering, technology, teamwork, and problem-solving.
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.
Each year, the MATE ROV Competition selects a theme that reflects real-world scenarios and industry-driven mission tasks. This year’s theme aligns with the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) and highlights the Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences (2025-2034), focusing on the unique challenges of operating in cold, dynamic, and extreme ocean environments.
Hosting the World Championship in St. John’s enables these challenges to be staged in realistic conditions through access to world-class technology facilities. At the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University, teams will operate in the world’s largest flume tank, a 1.7-million-liter facility designed to simulate real ocean currents, marking one of the most advanced controlled testing environments ever used in competition history. At the National Research Council Canada, teams will engage with advanced testing environments, including a wave basin that replicate offshore conditions and a specialized ice tank designed to model Arctic and under-ice environments. Together, these facilities create an authentic, industry-aligned competition setting that reinforces the technical rigor and real-world relevance of the MATE ROV Competition.
Teams will map and document cold-water coral ecosystems, deploy and service subsea monitoring technologies, support offshore energy systems, and conduct under-ice data collection. In addition to in-water performance, the competition requires teams to operate as start-up companies, developing technical documentation, managing budgets, presenting marketing displays, and delivering engineering presentations to a panel of industry professionals.
The public is encouraged to follow the event and celebrate the next generation of problem-solvers and innovators. Activities will take place across multiple venues in St. John’s, including the Marine Institute and partner facilities. For more information, including a complete list of competing teams and program sponsors, visit /world-championship.
