People of FRC

Ian
Team 2877 Ligerbots

I: Why did you join frc? How many years have you been on the team?
Ian: I've been on this team since my freshman year, we all decided we'd join and play ultimate Frisbee and do robotics! None of us ended up playing ultimate Frisbee, but we all stuck with robotics.

I: Why do you stay with FRC, and with this team in particular?
Ian: I feel like it's a great way to prototype your ideas and see them in action. I can CAD and design a part, go through the mechanical process, and see if it actually fails or not.

I: Is there a mentor that inspires you?
Ian: They're all amazing because they have demanding jobs and make time for you, and they show you different perspectives on engineering.

I: What is your most memorable experience with FRC? This could have happened during a meeting, at a competition, etc.
Ian: Oh that's hard. In 2015, we won the chairman's award. WE were going to worlds for our performance, but to win at districts was amazing.

I: how does FRC apply to your future?
Ian: I want to do something in CS or engineering, so this directly applies to my future.

Rachel (student) & Sarah (mentor)
1768 Nashoba Robotics

I: Why did you join frc? How many years have you been on the team?

R: This is my second year on the team. I joined because I know I want to be an engineer, and this seemed like a great experience to lead up to that.

S: I've been mentoring since 2010, and I got into it through my dad through a team in Merrimack.

I: Why do you stay with FRC, and with this team in particular?

R: My teammates are great, and I love the team dynamic we have.

S: I'm an alumni of this school, so it felt right to come back.

I: Is there a mentor that inspires you?

R: Sarah has taught me all the electrical stuff, which is what I've been doing this year, so she's been really helpful.

I: Is there a student that inspires you?

S: As a female mentor, it's been great to see Rachel coming in and doing a lot of technical stuff.

I: What is your most memorable experience with FRC? This could have happened during a meeting, at a competition, etc.

S: We had a great season last year, we won two competitions and went to St. Louis, which was a great experience my first year.

R: My first year mentoring we made it to nationals, and scrambling to figure that out and find plane tickets in less than a week was demanding but a good experience.

I: how does FRC apply to your future?

S: I know I want to go into engineering, maybe mechanical or biomed, and I know this is giving me the skills I need.

I: Being a female in STEM can be a little challenging, have you encountered stigma and how have you dealt with that?

S: I think it's hard to get past some barriers, but it's easy if you keep working as hard as you can.

R: In the industry and on this team, you see females being leaders, and as soon as the males see you can they quickly jump on board.

Note: I unfortunately did not get a picture of Eric, if someone wants to send one to me that would be great!
Eric
4905 Andromeda One

I: Why did you join frc? How many years have you been on the team, and what subteam are you on?

E: This is my second year, and I joined mostly because I like engineering and robots are cool!

I: Why do you stay with FRC, and with this team in particular?

E: Everyone is really close, like a family, plus it's the only team around my area.

I: Is there a mentor that inspires you?

E: His name is Bill Walter, he is one of the lead hardware mentors on our team - he seems to know everything about everything.

I: What is your most memorable experience with FRC? This could have happened during a meeting, at a competition, etc.

E: Last year in the semifinals, we were tied, and one of our motors burned out. Me and Bill Walter were given five minutes to fix that. We swapped that and as we were going onto the field to put the robot back we were still tightening screws. We lost, but it was still pretty fun.

I: how does FRC apply to your future?

E: So, I plan to get as many FRC scholarships as possible so I can try to get into as many of my top schools as possible, like WPI and MIT.

Mrs. Bewley
Team 2342

Why did you join FRC? How many years have you been on the team, and what subteam are you on?

I joined the team as a mentor during the 2015-2016 season. My two oldest sons joined Team Phoenix the year before, and at the time I thought that the team only needed technical mentors (mentors with experience in engineering or software). After going to so many of the team events and talking with some of the team mentors (especially Mrs. Muller), I realized that the team also does a lot of marketing and business presentations, as well as design, artwork, team branding and so much more. Business and marketing are something I have a lot of experience with, so I happily joined the team as an official mentor for the business subteam.

Why do you stay with FRC, and with Team Phoenix in particular?

I love FRC, it is so exciting to be a part of. What I believe makes Team Phoenix special, besides the obvious answer, which is that we are a student-run team, is that the team is a family. Not just a family, but the family I never knew I had and once you are a part of the Team Phoenix family, you never want to leave!

What's the best part of being a mentor?

Getting to see students solve challenging issues and problems on their own, or watch them learn something and then turn around and teach it to another student is insanely rewarding. All of the mentors on the team engage and inspire the members of Team Phoenix in ways way beyond just building the robot each year. We all work to help the students appreciate the value of sportsmanship, teamwork, and of course, always show gracious professionalism.

What is your most memorable experience with FRC? This could have happened during a meeting, at a competition, etc.

My most memorable experience with FRC would have to be before I was even a mentor for the team. When they found out that they were going to Worlds during the 2014-2015 season, it was so amazing to get to see their hard work pay off and to get to be with the team when they found out this great news! That same day, all of the families had done a potluck cookout together in a parking lot at WPI, which was also a lot of fun. Overall, it was just an amazing day and one that I will always remember.

A close second most memorable experience would be the first year I was the Tournament Director for the FLL Qualifier that the team runs each year. I had never even been to an FLL tournament before, but seeing the team (students, mentors, and parents) pull together to make it such a successful and fun event for all of the teams was very rewarding

Aasha
Team 2342

+Why did you join frc? How many years have you been on the team, and what subteam are you on?

I joined FRC because my friend Devony, who I had met a few years before at a science summer camp, jumped out of a tree at field day and started talking to me about Team Phoenix. I was surprised to see her, and was rather excited. It didn't take very much for me to join the team. I originally joined for mech, due to my intense love of large and loud machinery. I ended up joining business shortly before running for business lead during the spring of my first year.

+Why do you stay with FRC, and with Team Phoenix in particular?

The leadership of Team Phoenix was responsible for building my confidence. I used to organize the closet and hide from people. I didn't really believe in myself, and didn't know where I saw myself going. Our students helped me to realize that I was capable of a lot, when they gave me the mascot costume and told me to try scouting. Our students were an inspiration to me, and helped me to understand who I could become, if I worked hard to hone not only my technological but also my leadership skills.

+ Is there a mentor that inspires you?
Mrs. Gebhardt inspires me because she works hard at everything she does, and reminds us of the actual purpose of the work that we are doing, when we get too caught up in the details of it all.

+What is your most memorable experience with FRC? This could have happened during a meeting, at a competition, etc.

My most memorable experience with FRC was the one that you've probably heard about a million times, but I'll put it here, anyway. Standing on the stage at the UNH District Event in front of thousands of people during alliance selection was the most memorable experience that I've had with FRC. It was a mixed bag of excitement and fear, and it was the first time that I realized that I actually could speak in front of large groups of people.

+how does FRC apply to your future - do you feel you've gained anything from participating?

FRC has sparked my interest in engineering, and has helped me to build my confidence. I think that the combination of those two skills will be incredibly useful, not only in college but also in the workplace.

Ben
Team 2342

+Why did you join frc? How many years have you been on the team, and what subteam are you on?

I joined three years ago on the coding subteam and this year I am the coding subteam lead. I joined because I have always loved engineering and technical challengers, and I saw the team as a fun place to tackle interesting challanges with an awesome group of people.

+Why do you stay with FRC, and with Team Phoenix in particular?

I stayed with FRC because I love it, I love the whole game challenges, the crazy moments in build season when something finally works or I'm rushing to finish something at the last second, and the incredible energy of a competition. I stayed with team Phoenix, because of all the friends I have made on the team and the great team community.

+ Is there a mentor that inspires you?
All the mentors inspire me in some way or another, its a great thing that they do to give their free time to help guide the students along and to help us to solve these challenges/ Specifically I am inspired by Mr Muller. He is really knowledge in his field and always helpful but what really inspires me is his teaching ability. He has infinite patience and he will work with someone for hours to help them solve the problem on their own and make sure they understand it.

+What is your most memorable experience with FRC? This could have happened during a meeting, at a competition, etc.

My most memorable experience was during my first year on the team when we made it to the world championships, the whole energy of the event and the tension of every match we played was incredible, the whole experience is my favorite of any FRC memory.
+how does FRC apply to your future - do you feel you've gained anything from participating?

I have gained tons from participating in FRC, I've gained a lot of technical knowledge involving robotics, I've gained experience working in a large team, I've improved my communication skills as a team leader, and I've had a ton of fun in the process. I think FRC will be really beneficial in my future, not only in college but in my professional life as well, I can apply all these skills that I learned doing FRC

John
Team 1786

I:Why did you join frc and how many years have you been on your team?

J: I joined it because i=I had been doing engineering stuff before hand, such as building armor. I have been on it for three years

I: So why do stay on this team and FRC in general?

J: I'm on this team because it’s the school team and I chose to stay on it because I was learning useful skills.

I: Is there a mentor that really inspires you from your team?

J: Mr. Cox probably, because he's spunky and he runs around and people don’t really realize how hard he works and what he's going through, since he’s going through something medically, and he’s going around acting just about the same.

I: What’s your most memorable moment at FRC, it could be a competition or something that happened during a practice?

J: I would say the time we almost won, not the time we won, but the time we almost won. It was the second to last final match. The best robot from the other team suddenly didn't work so we were able to win, but they somehow magically got it to start working. It was really exciting because we didn’t know what was going to happen.

I: So how does FRC applies to your future, and do you say it helped you at all?

J: I would say it definitely did because I have learned some useful skills, and I want to be a mechanical engineer.

Abigail
Volunteer for 4 years

I: Why do you stay as a volunteer here?

A: For the students, for the kids, it’s a great experience see the excitement that exists here today is unparalleled.

I: Is there something that you’ve seen today that inspires you the most?

A: Seeing small acts of gracious professionalism on the field, helping your alliance member over the defence when he get stuck, things like that.

I: So what’s your most memorable experience with FRC for all the years you’ve been here?

A: I was able to be a head ref at championships last year, so I was also on the Einstein field.

I: Can you tell me a little bit about that experience?

A: Intimidating. When the Edward Jones dome gets filled, there are a lot of people there. Watching you, watching what’s going on and your decisions..

I: So how do you think that FRC is helping these students reach their goals.

A: I think that it’s encouraging STEM education in new and different ways, hopefully you’re learning something.

I: Do you have any final comments about FRC or anything else?

A: It’s more than robotics.

Dean Kamen

I: Why did you start FRC?

Dean: I started FRC because I realized that too many kids were distracted by too many other things while they're in high school to really get focused on seeing how important, how fun, how accessible, how exciting science, technology, engineering, mathematics, all are if you master them. The difference between all those things and the rest of it is that if you master the stuff you’re doing here, how can have any career option you want and have a successful life. If you get distracted by a lot of other stuff that might be as much fun, you’re not gonna make a living bouncing a ball - you’re not gonna make a living doing most of the other things you can be distracted by - so the goal of FIRST was to create in kids an awareness, self confidence about their capability to do technology, engineering, and make careers.

I: What is the most inspiring thing that you have seen here today?

Dean: It’s the same thing I see that inspires me every time I go to an event; I see kids, and parents, and teachers, and mentors all working together, even with their competitors. Everyone is ferociously competing, but passionately supporting each other. It’s the way the world should be! And it’s exciting and inspiring every time I go to an event.

I: So do you think the way FIRST has evolved gives you a little bit more hope for the future?

Dean: I think that when you look at FIRST, it gives you great confidence that the world can have a great future. In fact, these days as you know, when you look at the typical sound bytes in the world of politics, it seems like everybody’s destroying everybody else - everybody’s nagging everyone about everybody else. Everybody’s worried about the future, no one has any answers about the future, and in FIRST everybody works with each other, everybody has great ways to make the future better, and everybody is hopeful and positive and that is what the world needs.

Bailey
Chop Shop 166

I: Why did you join FRC and how long have you been on this team for?
B: I’ve been on the team for four years, I joined FRC mostly because my friends joined, and I was on an FLL team as a kid.
I: Why do you keep coming back to this team and FRC in general?
B: It’s a really great program I learn a lot of different things every year. I love the team - it’s a great environment. Just can’t get enough.
I: Is there a mentor that inspires you?
B: Yeah, his name is Danny P, he’s a pretty slick cat.
I: What’s your most memorable experience with FRC?
B: Last year when I was a Dean’s List semifinalist, it was really nice to walk down in front of the crowd on the stage, it was really fun.
I: How does FRC apply to your future?
B: Definitely, the only reason why I’m going to WPI is because of robotics.

William
Shockwave 4546

I: Why did you join FRC? How many years have you been on your team?
W: In middle school, FRC came down to promote the FTC teams which I joined, and I stayed until FRC started so they just couldn’t get rid of me! I am the team’s electrical captain.
I: Why do you stay with this team and with FRC in general?
W: It’s just a lot of fun, I have a lot of interest in all the new things we get to design and create.
I: Is there a mentor here that inspires you the most?
W: All of the mentors put in a lot of work and effort. We had a new mentor last year, Tim, his basement is basically a machine shop. So if the school is closed or we need to weld something we can go there and do whatever we need.
I: What’s your most memorable experience with FRC?
W: Probably last year when I was in 8th grade, that was my first FRC event. Just sitting in the stands and seeing all the robots, thinking ‘ that’s something I could do next year’.
I: How does FRC apply to your future?
W: It’s definitely shown me the possibilities of what can be done and what I can learn with FRC.

Adam
Power Knights 501
Mentor

I: Why did you become a mentor?
A: I was a student in 1999 and 2000, I always wanted to get back into the fold. In 2005 I rejoined a different team, and ran through on that team until it was discontinued, and then I rejoined my alma mater - this was the school I went to high school at. I’ve now been with this team since 2010.
I: Why do you stay with this particular team?
A: It’s special obviously since it’s my alma matter, but I like the adults, I like the kids, I like that it’s two schools, West High school which is a little bit of a challenging school as far as the students, and Goffstown high school where students have a little more privilege. You put them together and there’s a really nice dichotomy between the two of them, where they interact and get to learn a little bit about each other’s skillsets.
I: What’s the best part of being a mentor?
A: The best part is seeing the students succeed, especially coming in as a freshman, and seeing them mature and gain talents - nerds tend to be awkward, but as they go through the program they really spread their wings, and when they leave you feel confident that they are ready to join the world.
I: Is there a specific student that inspires you or impresses you?
A: I actually have a whole bunch of students that are on drive team and put in a huge number of hours, through build all the way through the end, it doesn’t matter if they’re on the drive team or not, they’re working hard. And I just had a freshman that came into the program, and while he’s a little fidgety, he’s very good mechanically, and has a real love for the program, already. He’s already trying to recruit more friends: it’s exciting.
I: What’s been your most memorable experience with FRC?
A: My favorite thing in FRC - in my previous team, I was on team 40 Checkmates. In 2009 we got the new control system, I was the programming mentor and the programming team had spent tons of time trying to get the vision working. At our second event we finally got it to click in and work, and our robot was chasing other robots around in autonomous mode and filling their trailer with soccer balls, and it was really exciting.
I: How do you think FRC applies to your student’s futures?
A: It’s really easy to see how it helps the students. Some of the students come in and have very little direction - they think it’s kind of neat to play with robots but don’t know what they want to do when they get older and feel a little bit lost. I feel like to some degree schools aren’t giving students enough opportunity to experience real world things to choose a career instead of teaching them so much math, science, the basics. So they come in and are sometimes lost as far as that’s concerned, and by the time they leave, they have a strong feeling of ‘this is what I want to do’. It doesn’t matter if it’s engineering. It might be arts or math or business but the reality is that they come out with an idea of what to do. We see a lot of kids who go through four years of college, they spend all this money and then they realize ‘ I don’t really want to do this!’ so I think FIRST really helps with that.