My Passions
Team Founder, Captain and Robot Design Lead
FIRST Tech Challenge Team 14496 RoboctoPI
I've been designing robots for the past eight years!
When I was nine-years-old, I attended a FIRST Tech Challenge robotics tournament. I was mesmerized by what those High School students had built to solve that season's challenge, Cascade Effect, and I was hooked!
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Inspired, I decided to start a robotics team with a few friends in our garage, and it has become a huge part of my life. This is a picture of me with my favorite robot, Catamaran, that I designed for the 2022-23 Power Play season. Catamaran won the Ochoa Division Championship at Worlds and finished the season ranked 5th out of over 7,000 FTC teams from around the world!
International Science & Engineering Fair - ISEF '23
Grand Award Winner - Robotics and Intelligent Machines
I've always been fascinated by science and engineering.
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After seeing a few college students share their research at a STEM Expo, I became obsessed with how superconductors could magically levitate above magnetic tracks and had to learn more. When I was able to personally prototype a more sustainable transportation system using my knowledge of this science, I knew that engineering solutions using science to make the world a better place is what I would do for the rest of my life.
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I'm proud to have won local, state and international science and engineering fair awards with two different research projects: Superconductors: The Future of Transportation and A Differentially-Geared, Omni-directional Robotics Platform with Jerk-limited Navigation.
Escondido Union School District (EUSD)
District wide After-school Robotics Program Founder
My passion for robotics, research and STEM was accelerated several times in my life when older students demonstrated how interesting and fun science and engineering could be.
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That is one reason I enjoy doing the same thing for others now that I am older and more experienced.
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By advocating for funding from my local school district, I raised over $150,000 and started an after-school STEM and robotics program serving 11 underserved elementary and middle schools in my local community. This program has already impacted more than 650 students, and by teaching robotics to the teachers, it will have a sustainable impact on hundreds more in the years to come!
TEDx ClassicalAcademyHS
Robot designs, research projects and public speaking have a lot in common. All three require brainstorming an idea, organizing your thoughts and creating a final product.
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I really get a kick out of preparing for and delivering a speech that resonates with an audience. It feels great to have an idea you just have to share, and see the impact it has on your listeners!
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I've had the honor of sharing my ideas publicly on several occasions, but my favorite was delivering this TEDx talk on False First Principles and the innovation process.
