The first robot I worked on.

Engineering

I sure do a lot of that.

Hey, that’s me!

2022 Rapid React

  • Systems engineer for the Chassis group

  • Fabricated parts for the electrical board

    • Two layers, with multiple parts per layer

      • Drilling, tapping, and assembling the electrical board per drawings and specifications

    • Helped direct the production of a CAD model of the electrical board for the first time in our team’s history

    • Soldered multiple sensors for the climbing arms from individual parts and perfboard

  • Learned to use a mill and lathe

    • Made a demonstration cube from aluminum and plastic stock by hand with a manual mill, scribe, ruler, and a set of technical drawings

    • Used a lathe during pre-season to turn a piece of hex shaft to have a circular portion that could fit into a shaft hole

2023 Charged Up

  • Subsystem Lead

    • Responsible for leading the development of a major robot subsystem

    • Leading a team of 5 technical peers

    • Designed and successfully fabricated two units of the most complicated part the team has ever produced

      • CNC Mill

Outreach

Part of a balanced engineer!

2022 First Lego League Challenge

  • Mentoring supervisor for two full FLL Challenge teams from local elementary schools

    • Oversaw dozens of Saturday sessions with over 20 students and numerous mentors

    • Ensured that all groups were on track to both get work done and have a good experience

  • Mentor for an FLL Explore group

    • Helped them finish their model, learn about robotics and FIRST, and prepare for a presentation of their work and what they learned

2022 Girl Scout Workshop

  • Planned, designed, tested, and implemented a brand new workshop for visiting girl scouts

    • Involved a suite of activities revolving around building robots and learning about STEM

  • Produced the Step-By-Step Guide (PDF) for the robot involved in the workshop

  • Worked significantly on the presentation (PDF) that went along with the curriculum delivered during the workshop

2022 Brownie Workshop

  • Helped plan, design, test, edit, and implement a revised Brownie robotics workshop curriculum

    • Helped especially with the production of a slideshow (PDF) that was delivered to visiting girl scouts

A glorious illustration displayed proudly on the cover page of the Cadette Workshop robot manual.

The surprisingly inspiring first slide of my Systems Engineering curriculum slideshow.

Systems Engineering

  • Primary systems engineer for the Chassis group during the competitive season and Blue Square during the pre-season

    • Kept student engineers on track, ensured that the right tasks were being done at the right time, and fit the specifications set upon them

    • Mentored students in technical skills

      • Soldering, CAD, electrical verification, and test equipment usage

Leadership and Team Development

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. -John F. Kennedy

Team Development

  • Sole author of the 2022 Reflection slideshow (PDF)

    • Provided a huge set of suggestions following the end of the 2022 robotics season

      • Not for the robot, but for the team and the students on it

      • Numerous suggestions regarding everything from branding to the utilization of our veteran members for the betterment of our team and our students

  • Of particular note, the ideas pertaining to the pre-season and mock season are to be implemented mostly as proposed for the 2022-2023 season

    • This constitutes a radical and fundamental overhaul of the way the team operates

      • Advanced “Integrated Projects” are to be undertaken by groups of students to hone their skills for the season and develop a base of highly refined designs to assist students during the competitive season

      • Technical focused students will work on advanced technical work, while business and outreach focused students will explore new territory in the worlds of branding, marketing, and outreach

Curriculum Development

  • Worked heavily on Cadette Workshop (PDF) and Brownie Workshop (PDF) for Girl Scouts

    • Worked on numerous other workshops

      • Daisy Workshop and Junior Workshop especially

  • Planned and produced a first-day Introduction to Systems Engineering presentation (PDF) for returning students who seek to join the systems group

    • Designed to be a gentle and effective introduction to Systems Engineering as it relates to our team and our work

      • Defines their job, and what goes into making requirements and specifications for a system

Cyan Color Team Lead

  • Held regular meetings during and outside of sessions with an interdisciplinary group of students

    • Made sure that all members were up to date on their tasks, and made sure that they did not need additional help

  • Competed for spirit points with other color teams

    • Coordinated students to wear cyan and perform other activities that yielded points

    • We won!

FLL Challenge Supervisor

  • Oversaw dozens of Saturday sessions with over 20 students and numerous mentors

    1. Ensured that all groups were on track to both get work done and have a good experience