The UIU MARINER team from United International University (UIU) has qualified for the 2026 MATE ROV Competition World Championship, one of the world’s leading university-level competitions in marine robotics.

The championship will be held from 25 to 27 June 2026 at the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

The team’s remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for this season has been named “KARAKEN”. According to the team, the underwater robot is capable of underwater navigation, accurate distance and depth measurement, and transmitting live underwater images and video, features expected to strengthen their performance in international competition.

The qualification marks a significant achievement for UIU MARINER, which secured a place in the competition within only its second year of operation. The team has also become the first team from Bangladesh to qualify for the Explorer Class, the most advanced category of the MATE ROV competition.

The UIU MARINER team was led by Iftekharul Islam and Sadique Hossain as project managers. The team was supervised by Prof Dr A K M Muzahidul Islam of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at UIU and mentored by Engr Fahim Hafiz and Sheikh Md Saifur Rahman from the same department.

In June 2026, the team will travel to Canada to represent Bangladesh on the global stage. University authorities expressed confidence that institutional support would further strengthen the team’s preparation and performance in the prestigious international event.

UIU MARINER previously achieved global recognition at the 2025 MATE ROV World Championship in Michigan, United States, where the team secured 5th place worldwide and 1st place in Asia in the Pioneer Class. The team also became champion in the Technical Documentation segment of the competition.