The 2021 MATE ROV Competition VR World is allowing us to facilitate the social interaction, peer-to-peer networking, and shared experience that students value and appreciate most about the competition - and are especially craving during the time of this pandemic. Working together, NCAT and MATE have reimagined the 2021 MATE ROV Competition to include a virtual world that enables students and mentors from around the globe to experience the competition even if they can't participate in person. MATE's mission is to inspire and challenge students to learn and creatively apply science, technology, engineering, and math to solving real-world problems in a way that strengthens critical thinking, collaboration, entrepreneurship, and innovation.ΔΆ021 MATE ROV Competition VR Portal: Virtual Reality for Social Engagement You can find these scenarios from Pennsylvania to Portugal, Florida to Australia, the Western Pacific to the Mid-Atlantic, and Indianapolis to Indonesia. This year, the competition is challenging students to tackle problems that impact the entire world: plastics clogging our rivers, lakes, waterways, and ocean from the surface to the bottom of the Mariana Trench climate change raising ocean temperatures, affecting the health of coral reefs and contaminants in our waterways. The MATE ROV Competition is an underwater robotics (aka remotely operated vehicle or ROV) challenge that engages a global community of learners each year.