User:Siri

I was a student on Team 1640 from 2007 (Rack 'n Roll) until I graduated from Downingtown East in 2009. I now commute weekly from Penn State Main to serve as a mentor during the 2010 build season.

Years as a Student

I was the captain-manager of FRC Team 1640 for the 2008 (Overdrive) and 2009 (Lunacy) seasons, until I handed off the position to Carly McKown before graduating from Downingtown High School East Campus in June of 2009. I took the position after Head Mentor Emeritus and Team Founder Paul Sabatino went on medical sabbatical. In that time, I served as the team's representative and student liaison, chief media-creator (now a separate department), paperwork-doer, question-answerer, scheduler and organizer, finance officer (also separate department now), etc. I was also the first student member of the Steering Committee and Design Team in my capacities as captain and lead mechanical student, respectively.

In the 2009 season, I became the first student member of the design team (largely thanks to Clem McKown's mass emails), a position we have begun to expand for other students in the 2010 season. This experience enhanced my ability to serve the team's lead mechanical student and pit crew leader--the latter fortunately mostly obsolete in 2009. (The judges also seemed to like that I had that knowledge.)

In the winter of 2008, Clem McKown, Foster Schucker, and I started organizing pre-kickoff classes for many FRC subjects, several of which I taught. I also serve as an occasional VEX junior mentor and very occasional teacher of the Enabling Mentors VEX programming sessions.

As the team's representative in 2008, I also had the wonderful opportunity to help start a JFLL club at Sugartown Elementary School in the nearby Great Valley School District.

By a series of flukes of attendance, I also became the main robot operator (second driver) in the 2007-2009 seasons and the chief welder in 2009. By deliberate stubbornness, I also joined the pit crew in 2007, learning more and more until eventually leading the crew in the 2008 post-season.

Years as a Mentor

The 2010 (Breakaway) is my first season as an FRC mentor. I commute weekly between Downingtown and State College by bus (roughly 3.5 hours). When at DEC, I teach, supervise, and coordinate mechanical design, prototyping, welding, fabrication, and assembly.

Sub-Team Membership

The team has restructured (or perhaps just "structured") several times in my tenure, but I am/was a member of the following sub-teams throughout the years (in order of precedence, notice the evolution):
DEWBOT III Mechanical (Drive and Arm) Team (student)
DEWBOT III Pit Crew (student)
DEWBOT III Drive Team (operator)
DEWBOT III Scouting/Tactical Team (operator)

DEWBOT IV Managerial Team (captain-manager)
DEWBOT IV Mechanical (Drive and Catapult) Team (student co-leader)
DEWBOT IV Pit Crew (student co-leader)
DEWBOT IV Drive Team (operator)
DEWBOT IV Scouting/Tactical Team (operator)

DEWBOT V Steering Committee (captain-manager)
DEWBOT V Design Team (student leader)
DEWBOT V Mechanical (Drive and Manipulation Systems) Team (student leader)
DEWBOT V Pit Crew (student leader)
DEWBOT V Drive Team (operator, occasional off-season coach)
DEWBOT V Scouting/Tactical team (operator, occasional off-season coach)

DEWBOT VI Mechanical Team (mentor)
...It's amazing how a 3.5 hour commute really cuts into what you can be part of...

Experience

I'm currently at Penn State - University Park, where I'm a Schreyer Honors College Scholar (<2% of all PSU undergraduates) and mechanical engineering major with minors in engineering mechanics and military studies (AFROTC). I plan on enlisting in the U.S. Air Force during the summer-fall of 2010. I will serve as a structural engineering technician in the 201st RED HORSE (Rapid Deploying Expeditionary Engineers) Squadron of the 193rd Special Operations Wing in the Pennsylvania Air National Guard. I am a student member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

Places I've Been

United States

Pennsylvania - I live here
Illinois - I was born here
Maryland - including Robotics (2009 Chesapeake Regional)
Connecticut - including Robotics (2008 Hartford Regional)
Massachussets - HS Robotic Engineering Seminar
Georgia - Military (NGCSU HS Seminar)
Vermont - Military (Norwich HS Seminar)
Colorado - Military, (USAFA HS Seminar)
New York - including Military (USMA HS Seminar)
Indiana - High School Marching Band (Indy 500)
Florida - including High School Marching Band (Disney, 3x)
New Jersey - family
Michigan - family
Texas - family
Nevada - family
Washington, D.C. - family
West Virginia
Virginia
Hawaii
New Mexico
Arizona
Puerto Rico

International

Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad, Tirupati), India - family
Tamil Nadu (Madras), India
Onatario, Canada
British Columbia (Vancouver), Canada - family
United Kingdom (London, Hampshire, Devon) - family
Greece (Athens)

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FRC Team 1640