Alumni
Select an alumni for a short biography:
Matthew Pietkevich
David Theriault
Steve Reitsma
Rich Spadaccini
Kirsten Saur
Jacob Troiano
Ben Waksman
Mark Basile
TJ Watson
Name: Matthew Pietkevich
Years of Participation on Bobcat Robotics: 2004 – 2007
Role on Bobcat Robotics: CAD using Inventor, and was the CAD team leader
School: Lyndon State College in Vermont
Employment: Freelances and works as a Business Development Officer at the Battle Empire Corporation (BE), which develops proprietary software for the gaming industry
What are you doing now?
I am in my senior year doing learning some NEW MEDIA (Web Design and Development).
How has being a part of Bobcat Robotics affected your life and career?
Working in any digital media area you need to have the ability to sit in front of a computer for hours without getting distracted, and CAD taught me that ;). Bobcat Robotics introduced me to a family of people who were interested in the same area of the world as me, and I learn about a number of possible career areas way before most high school students. Because of my involvement in FIRST, when I finished high school I knew what I wanted to do. It turned out that I moved from engineering to media design and finally to web design and development but I was still in the ball park.
Why is FIRST robotics a good program?
It was a blast to compete; I made some life-time friends, and gained some lifetime memories. I also think the lessons that I have learned from FIRST have given me a competitive edge in the professorial world. I am one of the most experienced, designers in the visual arts department at Lyndon State and I continue to get job offers in these hard times.
How did Bobcat Robotics inspire you?
I did some really professorial CAD work when I was a student on the 177 Robotics team, and to that point in my life it was the best work I ever did. After having that experience I realized that I was capable of doing some great things, and 177 inspired me to take my ability to the next level and really grow up as a designer.
Name: David Theriault
Years of Participation on Bobcat Robotics: 1995 – 1999
Role on Bobcat Robotics: Helped with design, manufacturing, strategy
School: Graduated Northeastern Univ. B.S. Computer Science 2006
Employment: Company called LiveWire Mobile, specializing in mobile media
How has being a part of Bobcat Robotics affected your life and career?
It was great to have early exposure and real experience with a large project involving many people. Also it was refreshing to be part of such excitement and enthusiasm for science and technology.
Why is FIRST robotics a good program?
Competition can bring out the best in people, and this is often seen in sports. However, the real world has many problems and sports can’t fix them, but technology and science can play a major role in making the world a better place. FIRST encourages and nurtures young adults paving the way for future scientist.
How did Bobcat Robotics inspire you?
We had a lot of fun and it was a great confidence boost. I did many things that I would otherwise never have done or gotten to do.
Name: Steve Reitsma
Years of Participation on Bobcat Robotics: 2006 – 2007
Role on Bobcat Robotics: 2006: Mechanical Team, 2007: Mechanical Team, Drive team (base driver)
School: Clarkson University
Employment: Starting at Pratt and Whitney in late June
Current FIRST involvement: FRC Team 229, Division By Zero
2008-2009: Mechanical team
2010: Mechanical team lead
2011: Design Team lead
What are you doing now?
I am in my senior year at Clarkson.
How has being a part of Bobcat Robotics affected your life and career?
It was the start of my interest in engineering. Before joining the team I was contemplating going into business; almost immediately after joining the team I was searching for engineering schools. Being in robotics also taught me to work with everyone regardless of how I personally feel about that person, because good inspiration can come from anyone. By working together with your teammates you can come up with a plan to take down giants, whether that giant be a design challenge, or a dream team of an alliance.
Why is FIRST robotics a good program?
Robotics serves as a constant inspiration for what competition should be. In sports, a team is mostly recognized by the faces you see, the players. In robotics, you cannot simply say the drivers make the team. A robotics team’s success is evenly dependent on the drivers, the designers, the manufacturers, the electrical guys, the programmers, the leadership, the funding, etc. This fact instills in high school kids a true sense of team dynamic that will be invaluable when they get to college and into careers.
A statistic: In Massena Central and Salmon River (the high schools 229 is comprised of) of graduates, ~30% go to college. Of graduates who participated in robotics, ~80% of graduates go to school. According to this statistic, a high school student is 2.667 times more likely to go to college if they participated in robotics.
How did Bobcat Robotics inspire you?
The most important thing I’ve learned from robotics is to hold myself to a high standard of design and manufacturing quality that bobcat robotics has etched in my head.
Name: Rich Spadaccini
Years of Participation on Bobcat Robotics: 1996 – 1999, 2006 – 2007
Role on Bobcat Robotics: Student, then mentor
School: Georgia Tech for Undergraduate, University of Maryland for Masters
Employment: NAVAIR
Current FIRST involvement: Training for some MD teams
What are you doing now?
I am the Mission Systems lead for the H-1 platform (Avionics).
How has being a part of Bobcat Robotics affected your life and career?
The mentors and teachers associated with the program were amazing. They all taught me how to engineer, how to solve problems and how to work in a real life team. I learned more on machining, manufacturing, and assembly from the mentors I had than anywhere else. This has carried through in my professional career even today as I can understand concepts of wiring, signals and how everything interacts to a greater extent than most.
Name: Kirsten Saur
Years of Participation on Bobcat Robotics: 1997-2000
Role on Bobcat Robotics: Video, Chairman’s, Team Organization, Fundraising
School: Boston University then University of Sydney
Employment: University of Sydney (International Office)
Current FIRST involvement: FRC Team 3132, Thunder Down Under, the first Australian FIRST team
Mentor on the business sub-team, hoping to see more teams in Australia
What are you doing now?
I currently live in Sydney, Australia, and work in International Education.
How has being a part of Bobcat Robotics affected your life and career?
Being on the team provided me with great opportunities to network and develop career opportunities, even though I ended up working in a non-engineering field. While I lived in CT, I had the opportunity to work with the team’s sponsor (both at Power and at UTC Corporate Headquarters). I’ve also formed lifelong friendships through being involved with the program.
Why is FIRST robotics a good program?
In most high schools, the range of extracurricular activities is quite limited—but with FIRST students who have interests in a huge variety of areas can meet each other, work together, learn, and explore their passions. It’s an extracurricular that really has an impact on students, and allows them to build their skills to have an impact on the world.
How did Bobcat Robotics inspire you?
I think I learned more from FIRST than the rest of high school! It was a real-world application of the things I’d learned, and it was inspiring because with FIRST, you can take your ideas and make them happen, and it teaches you to be resourceful and create new things.
Name: Jacob Troiano
Years of Participation on Bobcat Robotics: 2001 – 2004
Role on Bobcat Robotics: Designing and testing components for the robot and video editing
School: Worcester Polytechnic Institute (B.S. ’08, M.S. ’09 – both in Mechanical Engineering)
Employment: Pratt and Whitney
How has being a part of Bobcat Robotics affected your life and career?
Before being a part of the team, I knew that I enjoyed solving problems. FIRST showed me that a major part of engineering is identifying and solving problems. The enjoyment I got from participating in FIRST led me to study engineering in college.
Why is FIRST robotics a good program?
I think that working with professional engineers as mentors is an important difference between FIRST and most other programs. I think that the practical experience that this gives students is one of the major benefits of a program like FIRST.
How did Bobcat Robotics inspire you?
I was inspired by seeing the entire design process from start to finish. I thought that it was fascinating to start with a general problem, come up with possible solutions, and ultimately see one of those solutions in a final form. It was even more inspiring because I helped to develop and test the solutions.
Name: Ben Waksman
Years of Participation on Bobcat Robotics: 2008 – 2011
Role on Bobcat Robotics: CADD, Controls, Fundraising, Co-Team Leader
School: Yale Univesity
How has being a part of Bobcat Robotics affected your life and career?
Bobcat Robotics, and FIRST robotics, have had a large role in defining my life since the start of high school. I met some of my best friends through robotics, made some of the best memories and gained invaluable business and engineering experience. My participation in robotics was by far my biggest commitment throughout high school, and the result was that I had an amazing set of personal and team accomplishments to which I could point – something that definitely paid off when applying to college. But I didn’t participate in Bobcat Robotics just to bulk up my résumé; the leadership and collaboration experience I gained is something I apply to life every day.
Why is FIRST robotics a good program?
FIRST robotics is an amazing program because it provides students with an opportunity to work together with peers, parents, teachers and professionals in order to accomplish a unified goal. The build-season not only provides analogous circumstances to meeting deadlines in the real business world, but also pushes students to think, collaborate, rethink and persevere so that the end result is not only a functional robot, but also a better understanding of science and engineering concepts. I also think FIRST is great for the numerous scholarship opportunities it provides in addition to the experience that puts participants one step ahead in any college, leadership, internship or employment applications.
How did Bobcat Robotics inspire you?
Bobcat Robotics inspired me to set goals for myself and to work toward them incrementally. As a team we always followed this process, and together we achieved a great deal of success. I have also been inspired to think creatively, as well critically, which is constantly applicable in schoolwork. Most importantly, however, Bobcat Robotics inspired me to be a leader. Serving as a sub-team leader and then co-team leader, I learned the organizational, communication and motivational skills necessary to direct a large group. I also learned self-confidence and teamwork, and because of that, Bobcat Robotics has had a major impact on my life.
Name: Mark Basile
Years of Participation on Bobcat Robotics: 2008 – 2011
Role on Bobcat Robotics: CADD Team Leader, LogoMotion Human Player
School: University of Connecticut
How has being a part of Bobcat Robotics affected your life and career?
Although I do not plan on pursuing a career in engineering, being a part of Bobcat Robotics still has had an remarkable influence on me. Besides becoming proficient in Autodesk Inventor and learning a few details of coding over my four years on the team, I have learned incredibly important skills in cooperation and teamwork that not many other people have the opportunity to do. These are things that I will bring with me for the rest of my life.
Why is FIRST robotics a good program?
FIRST gives kids a chance to do something that not many people get to do. You get to come together as a team, find problems, brainstorm solutions, and create a final product in a way that is both educational and a lot of fun. The competitions are so much fun and getting to be on the field playing the game with all the robots is surreal. FIRST isn’t just a yearly game, it’s a stepping stone to encourage future advancement in science and technology through today’s youth.
How did Bobcat Robotics inspire you?
Bobcat Robotics has inspired me to always try my best in everything I do. The more effort you put in the better the result will be.
Name: TJ Watson
Years of Participation on Bobcat Robotics: 2008 – 2011
Role on Bobcat Robotics: Pit Crew, Team Leader
School: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Employment: Washburn Shops, Machining Instructor
How has being a part of Bobcat Robotics affected your life and career?
I knew what I wanted to do before joining the team, but I got to experience so much as a high schooler that I was far ahead of the majority of engineering students in terms of experience. I already had learned how to machine, design complex systems, use CAD programs, and even more importantly had learned how to interact with a team of diversified individuals working toward a common goal.
Why is FIRST robotics a good program?
The goal of FIRST has always been to change the stigma and opinion that we Americans have of engineering. FIRST is a fun way to bring multicultural individuals under one banner and learn under the guise of fun. And it is fun, which is why students keep coming back year after year, and why we now have team numbers that reach into the 4000s.
How did Bobcat Robotics inspire you?
The fantastic record that we enjoyed with the Bobcats inspires me to this day to work hard and acheive the goals I set for myself. The Championship medals that hang over my bed are a reminder that anything is acheivable through team work and detailed design
