Senior Strategist

Kalen, a veteran since middle school, has worked in the First Program for three years. He has liked robots for as long as he can remember, and being a naturally competitive person, the first program seems like it was made for him. Other than robotics, he enjoys playing games and competing in sports. As the senior strategist for the team, he is an invaluable member when it comes to planning and leading other team members. As one of the most passionate players in the team, he has experienced the greatest personal growth in his leadership and teamwork skill over the past years. Above all, he enjoys working hard on building a robot with enthusiastic people that share his interests. 

Lead Cad Designer

Ethan, a genius in the CAD world, leads our CAD design team, creating 3-D models in fusion. Although he has been on our team for only two years, Ethan has worked on First Robotics for three years and has proven to be gifted and accomplished in his line of work. Originally, Ethan’s only passion was tennis, but an introduction to Robotics piqued his curiosity, which blossomed to make Robotics his obsession (he often does an unhealthy amount of research on the newest designs to improve our Robot!). He is a diligent designer, and no challenge seems too high for him, so he enjoys the unique puzzle of building a different robot every year. From tough competitions, he has learned what it means to be part of a team, to be a leader, and above all, a “Gracious Professional.” For Ethan, the moment where it all comes together after multiple design iterations, many prototypes, and hard work, motivates him to continue developing his skills and inspire others who underestimate the power of CADing.

Builder

Rylan, a five year veteran of First Robotics, is the affable leader of our engineering team, who makes the lab a fun place to work. Rylan is an avid fisherman, who enjoys the outdoors and working on mechanical projects with his father. His mechanical ambitions know no bounds, as he takes apart and reconstructs anything that comes his way, even his own car! Running out of things to keep him busy, Rylan’s parents regard First Robotics as their savior, the perfect outlet for his mechanical energy. Rylan enjoys working with other teams and acquiring skills as he works on his goal of becoming an engineer. His greatest accomplishment has been overcoming the difficulty of not thinking outside the box and often surprising other teams with his creativity. For Rylan, FTC is a place where teams come together to compete in friendly battles, but his favorite part about building a robot is constructing a robot around a challenge and competing with it.