Matt Gardner is the man behind the missions at MATE—or one of the driving forces behind them, anyway. Every year, MATE coordinates with regional coordinators in the area where the competitions will be held to create missions that feel real and relevant.
“We try to base these missions as much as possible on what’s out there happening in the real world and what the industry is doing,” Matt said. “We don’t pick up Loch Ness monster eggs because there aren’t ROVs doing that.”
Matt has worked for MATE in some capacity since the early 2000’s, and he wears many hats as the competition technical manager, head rules judge, and mission coordinator. He works with industry professionals to devise a mission that can be adapted to the pool—and then he does the adapting. Crafting mock-ups out of PVC pipe and other commercial materials lets him test whether a mission will work, and his goal is always to create something that teams can replicate relatively easily for practice.
His background is in biology, and he first came to MATE through an intro class on submersibles at Monterey Peninsula College. A friend of a friend asked him to sign up so that the class had enough students to happen, and Matt agreed. He knew what ROVs were—they’re the things that go down and get the biological samples he needed to do his job—but didn’t have any experience working with them. He enjoyed the class a lot, though.
“I love looking into the water,” he said. “I want to know not just what’s on it, but what’s underneath there. I love snorkeling, and ROVs are just another way to see what’s interesting under the water.”
MATE asked him to help with its summer workshop, and he ended up competing with Monterey Peninsula College from 2003 to 2004. In 2005, he moved into management part-time. His responsibilities grew more and more every year until his current job emerged.
It’s a stressful job, he says, especially during the lead up to the competition when he and a group of volunteers are quickly building all the missions for stations. But it’s a job he wouldn’t trade for the world. He has about 15 years left till he plans to retire, and right now, he intends to spend all of those with MATE.
