UFH: Karthik Kanagasabapathy

[CD47-Bot]

Thread created automatically to discuss UFH Honoree: Karthik Kanagasabapathy.



Name: Karthik Kanagasabapathy
Date Honored: 01-31-2005
Years involved w/FIRST: 8
FIRST Team(s): Scotiabank/Bell Canada/Toronto District School Board &, Woburn Collegiate Institute (0188), General Motors - St. Catharines Powertrain/Allied Marine and Industrial &, Governor Simcoe Secondary School (1114)
Role: Team Advisor/Consultant
Quote: "For me, winning isn't something that happens suddenly on the field when the whistle blows and the crowds roar. Winning is something that builds physically and mentally every day that you train and every night that you dream." - Emmitt Smith
Bio: Karthik Kanagasabapathy is well known on the ChiefDelphi forums (and no, not just for that whopper of a name). Karthik, a member of the Waterloo Regional Committee and an active member of NiagaraFIRST, is becoming well known as a guiding voice and talented mentor in FIRST.

Karthik described his accomplishments for the community. "Some of my proudest accomplishments include being a member of the first ever Canadian team in FIRST (188 in 1998), leading Team 1114 to one of the most successful regional seasons in FIRST (One championship, Two Finalists, 4 Technical Awards, 1 Animation Award), being a part of the fabulous off-season event at Canada’s Wonderland, helping the development of FIRST in Niagara Region and being a part of the process of getting the new Waterloo Regional off the ground.

We’re working very hard these days north of the border to develop and nurture the flock of young teams we have. This past fall Ian Mackenzie and I ran a series of 6 workshops on various FIRST topics. I also helped plan, design and run the 2005 Robovation competition that was held at the Toronto remote kickoff. With all this guidance, we’re very hopeful that more Canadian teams will become forces to be reckoned with this season.

The accomplishment I pride myself on most, however, is getting people excited about FIRST who normally wouldn’t be. There’s a huge “nerd” stigma attached to FIRST and science and technology in general and, as adults, it’s easy to forget how much these stigmas mean to teenagers. As a result, many very bright individuals avoid technology because it’s “dorky”. I was one of those people when I was in high school, but luckily for me the excitement and energy of FIRST changed my view. As a result, I now work very hard to show students that FIRST isn’t just for “nerds”. You can still be interested in science and technology and be a cool kid, not a pariah. Bringing science and technology via FIRST to these kids who would have avoided it like the plague is more worthwhile to me than any trophy."

Karthik also told us a little bit about his favorite memory in FIRST. "Two moments stick out in my mind as my best memories of FIRST. The first would be nationals at EPCOT in 1998. It was my last year of high school and Mark Breadner and Roly Anderson had entered Woburn Robotics, Team 188, into the FIRST Robotics Competition. We had done a smaller scale competition in years past, so upon entering FIRST my expectations weren’t very high. All of that changed when we arrived at EPCOT. I walked into the Einstein Stadium and my jaw dropped; I saw a temporary stadium with seating for 10,000 + people which had been erected just for FIRST and immediately realized the magnitude of this event. This definitely wasn’t some sort of small-scale science fair. Over the course of the weekend, the high level of competition astonished me. The robots were awe-inspiring! Seeing those robots made me realize that one-day I wanted to make people’s jaws drop the same way mine had. That feeling of awe and excitement is a big reason why I’m still here today.

The second moment is the entire 2004 season. It had now been six years since that first trip to EPCOT, and things were coming full circle. Working with some amazing people at GM (most notably Ian Mackenzie, Derek Bessette and Steve Rourke) and some very keen and dedicated High School students, we created a very capable and complex robot, “Simbot Simon”. At every competition we attended, the crowd would “ooh” and “aah” during our first practice match when they caught a glimpse of our robot’s swerve drive and pneumatic wheel lifters in action. People were constantly coming up to me and saying, “That’s so cool, I want to be able to do that!” “Simon” became such a crowd favourite in Pittsburgh and Long Island that fans throughout the arenas were waving Canadian flags to cheer us on. I like to call that our “Rocky IV” moment. We put together an amazing season and won many awards, but none will top the gratification of knowing that I was partly responsible for exciting students about technology the way I had been years earlier."

Lastly, Karthik gave us a little bit of advice to heed. "As I see it, the main goal of FIRST is to affect a cultural change in society. This is no small task. To bring about this level of change, we must never lose sight of the goal; to change our culture, FIRST must create an awareness in as many people as possible. I see it as the responsibility of each and every one of us to make this happen. I’m not asking every one to go out and start a new team; it’s much simpler than that. Spread the word of FIRST. Invite your friends and parents friends to a competition. You all know as well as I do that once they see FIRST in action, they’ll be hooked. From there, we’ll be one step closer to accomplishing our goal."

Congratulations to Karthik Kanagasabapathy for being honored as our 29th Unsung FIRST Hero.


Nominated By: Holtzman

[Amanda Morrison]

Congratulations to Karthik Kanagasabapathy for being honored as our next Unsung FIRST Hero.


... I believe you still owe me a serenade, dear sir.
(I'll be sure to be sick that day.)

[Bharat Nain]

Congratulations Karthik! Well deserved, a lot to learn from you especially when it comes to team management and actual game play. I hope to meet you at the cmp event .

[Kyle]

Congratulations on winning, I hope to meet you at Nat's.

[Steve W]

As if his head isn't swollen enough already.

You deseve it Karthik. I just wish that you were "Unsung".

[Katie Reynolds]

Way to go, Karthik!!

[tkwetzel]

Congratulations to a much deserving member of the FIRST community.

[Bill Gold]

Congratulations Karthik. Even though you’re a new friend, I can tell you’re very deserving of this award. You’ve put in an incredible amount of quality time, sacrificed many things for this program, and have shared your knowledge with countless others. It’s also really fun to give you crap

Congrats and take it easy, buddy.

-Bill

PS – Booya!

[Tristan Lall]

Nice work Karthik....

(Not to (I should know better than to type the word I typed) him with faint praise, of course!)

Edit: Is Ms. Morrison not familiar with that phrase? Actually, that silly auto-$#@%-thing is rather inappropriate for the intended term, since to the unfamiliar reader, it could easily have been construed as one of several other terms, which would hardly have been appropriate to the context of the post.

Karthik, my man.....congrats

This man is a miracle worker. Teams need someone like this in the front office, he knows how to make things happen, even though he comes from a "country" with play money as the currency.

Congrats again, buddy and hope to see you again in Atlanta. (If I can make it )

-D.J.

[shyra1353]

Congratulations Karthik ... I actually don't know what else to say except thank you for everything ... there are a few people who without their help I would have quit last year, and you are one of them ... Congratulations again ...

[Arefin Bari]

I am little late...

Wow A guy that I was talking to at 11:59 shows up as the next UFH on the portal of chiefdelphi.

Karthik, I personally want to thank you for all the suggestions you made to me just not as a mentor but also as a good friend. You are one of the FIRSTers that I look up to. There are many things that you have offered to keep the FIRST inspiration going. Thanks for all your support man.

-Arefin.

[Jeremy Roberts]

Congrats Karthik. It was a pleasure meeting both your professional and non-professional side this past fall. Hope to see you in Atlanta and maybe in NH again. Later.

[Beth Sweet]

Fantastic choice! When I went to try and start 1504, Karthik was one of the people that offered any help he possibly could. He's been there every step of the way for my team and me. He also seems to be a fantastic mentor to all of the teams "up north" (note, that's coming from a Michigander) and is just so fantastic and supportive of everyone who needs help. Congrats Karthik, well deserved!

[Cory]

Karthik,

Booya! Congratulations, you are the man!

I opened my browser, and saw you staring back at me. First thing I thought (after wow, his hair is lookin a little down today) was "about time"!!!!!

FIRST in Canada, and everywhere else, would be much different without you, and not for the better.