FIRST For Dummies

Other Chit-Chat
#1

We’ve all read the “_____ For Dummies” books, they’re quite the series. And since in FIRST, we kind of have our own world, I think we need FIRST For Dummies. So let’s see some definitions to include in FIRST for Dummies! (Keep it PG and remember, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all!)

Chapter 1: Michigan FIRST
Dave Verbrugge: Master of Ceremonies extrordinaire. Engineering lead for the HOT team (67). Woodie Flowers Award winner 2002. Tends to “take a different view” of the field while announcing with headstands.
Ken Patton: “The Man”. Woodie Flowers Award winner 1999. Well known mentor of the Huskie Brigade. Known to be found wearing red camo pants.
Paul Copioli: Announcer known for wearing baseball jersey on field. Tends to lift other announcers on shoulders for double the announcing fun. Strong mentor for the Thunderchickens (217). Woodie Flowers Award winner 2005.
Kyle Hughes: Team RUSH drive coach known for strategy. Woodie Flowers Award winner 2000. Can be found in full RUSH jogging suit at all competitions.
Mike Martus: Inspector and FIRST volunteer extrordinaire. Well known mentor of Chief Delphi (47). Tends to deck out in all orange. IRI Volunteer of the Year 2007. Pretty cool guy :wink:
Jim Zondag: Programmer known all over. Designer of IRI 2007 randomizing system. Killer Bee (33) jumping drive coach (3 3, 3 3!) Tends to wear bee hairband.
Gail Alpert: Best kept secret in Michigan FIRST. Exceptionally talented new-team-former. Team champion of Las Guerrillas (469). Still waiting to see her dressed as gorrilla…

Team 47: Chief Delphi. Very orange team. Hosts to well known forums (hint: you’re browsing their forums). Chairman’s Award winner 1997.
Team 67: The HOT Team (Heroes of Tomorrow). Have “the recipe for success”. Starters of “HOTSHOTS” which turned into FLL. Chairman’s Award winners 2005.

So here’s the style: add your own chapters, or add onto someone else’s! Let’s see what we can define!

#2

Chap 2. Florida

Team 79- 5 time Florida regional chairmans award winners- they are GP, Look no further then these guys if you need to look at a great team model.

John Burke- Co founder of team 108, Mission Mayhem director; This man stays behind the scenes and keeps on inspiring other everyday.

Arefin Bari- Well know announcer and Florida FIRST person, founder of mission Mayhem-Florida offseason event, team 108 alumni and 1345 head robot designer. Finally Arefin is on the Fl regional planning committee.

David Ellich- Coach, founder of team 1251, Mission Mayhem field boss, always busy keeping things running smoothly. Another great guy who is always busy behind the scenes making things work.

Team 108- Sigmacats are one of the oldest teams in Florida as well as the founders of the Sigmacat opponent analysis program aka SOAP108.

Dan Quiggle- Team 179 head engineering mentor. Helpful to everyone as far as deisgn and always answers questions. He is truly a great mentor and example for other mentors to follow. Also has designed the well know Hexagon shape frame Swampthing is known for.

Team 233- The original Pink team there robots are more anticipated by FIRSTERS then Paris Hilton is by paparazzi. They serve as a role model team and are always trying to help whenever possible. There hard work paid off as they made a great run all the way to Einstein this year against the best of the best.

Dan Richardson-4th year mechanical engineering student at UCF is one of the lead deisgners on 1902 and everyone knows him as DJ Dan at Mayhem or announcer Dan from the Florida reigonal. His door is always open and he always has time for questions and to help out other teams as well as his own.

Team 1902- Exploding Bacon is a new team but there name is all ready well known. There trophy case explains why. Thats just part of though on any given Sunday or Saturday you can see Exploding Bacon doing demos or volunteering in there community. Did I mention they have a list of all star Florida mentors.

George Wallace- Team 180 SPAM alumni, is now an educator and drive coach on team 1902. He has been around in Florida working with FIRST teams for what seems like forever, George is a proud cofounder of Exploding Bacon. George also helps out with the mission mayhem competition as a announcer.

Mike Walker- A proud alumni of team 21 Commbatt,help start the world famous 1902. He is also started working with the Fl regional committee as the co volunteer coordinator at the Florida regional and Mission Mayhem helping both events to run smoothly.

Wendy Austin- Wendy is the team mom of EVERY Florida team, she is also on the regional planning.Wendy keeps 1902 looking good with there logo and shirt design. She is also helpful with coordinating events in the community that the team attends. Finally she always is willing to talk to any firster who has a problem or just needs to talk.

Tytus Gerrish- Tytus is best known as being one of the best drivers to ever touch the flightsticks in FIRST. He is a helpful person, who is a visionary when it comes to designing. As a 179 alumni he is working with the team sponsor and is helping an upcoming team 1889 get there team off the ground with his experience and engineering support.

Warren Bodroux- Team leader on SPAM 180, 2007 WFA award winner at Fl regional, helpful person, long time first sponsor/ supporter, continually inspiring others and always volunteers at the Fl regional with a smile.

#3

Chapter 2, part 2: Florida

Come on Drew, you can’t forget your own team and people from your own team…

Team 1251- This 4th year team have come a long way. Along with 233 and 1902, they were invited to attend IRI. They probably need to buy another trophy case by now.

Drew Disbury - Maybe he stays behind the scene, but this designer and machinist helped 1251 get where they are now. He is a great friend and a hard working person. Part of the Mayhem committee, Alumni and mentor of team 1251, Drew attends Florida Atlantic University with a full scholarship from FIRST.

David Guzman - Sometimes I really want to strangle this guy, but at the end he always convinces me to get along with him with everything he does. A very good designer, also an alumni and mentor of team 1251, David attend University of Central Florida.

Eric Halleus - The director of Florida regional committee, this man stays behind the scene and makes Florida regional happen.

Lauren Lichtenberg - A passionate woman who never stops working. She is also on the Florida regional committee who makes sure the regional runs smoothly.

Nancy Knobbs - Florida regional volunteer coordinator. If it wasn’t for her, Florida regional would have hard time finding volunteers.

Brian Camp - An alumni of FIRST, graduate of Georgia Tech, who works at Honeywell and mentors team 79. He is also part of the regional committee as well.

Kent Stolley - A mentor of team 744, who always offers his help to make sure the field doesn’t break down at Mayhem.

Gautam Chandarana - An Alumni of Team 180 who attended University of Central Florida, works for Bellcan and a full time mentor for Team 180.

Mike Dinini - A mentor of team 233… enough said.

Marian Passmore - The team mom of team 233 who coordinates and organizes really well. She also helps other team in the area as well.

Andy Bradly - Programming mentor and Drive Coach of team 233… enough said.

There are way too many people that I am forgetting on the list, but I have to study for my exam and work on Mayhem. Maybe I will edit this post later.

Maybe we don’t have the best robots in Florida, but we do have a lot of passionate people and a book can be written about them.

#4

Chapter 3: IndianaFIRST

Andy Baker- Andy is co-owner of AndyMark, he has been in FIRST for 10 years and in that time recieved a National Woodie Flowers award in 2003, he is also IRI’s co-coordinator.

Mark Koors- Mark is the other half of AndyMark. He has been a veteran of FIRST since 1998. He is FTA for numerous FIRST regionals, championships and off season events. He has won a regional Woodie Flowers award.

Chris Fultz- Chris is a key engineer to Cyber Blue (234). He is also a co-coordinator of IRI. He has been a long time veteran to FIRST and is a vital contact for all Indiana teams with his deep knowledge of FIRST.

Bill Beatty- Commonly known as the creator of the BEAST. This veteran of FIRST is the driving force behind team 71, in his time with the team he has won 4 World Championships with the team. He was a National Woodie Flowers winner.

Steven “Flo” Florence- Flo is a key role with the Purdue FIRST programs and team 461 in West Lafayette. Through the schools in his area, he has numerous teams in FLL, FTC and 3 FRC teams. He is a regional Woodie Flowers winner.

Amanda Morrison- Amanda works at FIRST with the FTC. She has been a very crutial part of IndianaFIRST for many years now. She was a student on team 71 a few years ago. She is a very good contact for teams.

Team 234- This team is one of the most community involved teams in Indiana. They help co-host IRI and are very competitive in the competition. They are very knowledgeable in every part of the competition, from the robot to animation.

Team 71- This is the only team to win the Championships 4 times. They are always extremely competitive and always willing to help in anyway possible. They also are very active in their local community. They have multiple FLL teams.

Team 461- This team is the driving force behind the Boilermaker Regional. This team is very well known for their websites. They are very competitive in the robot competition and animation competition. This team is an ideal mentor team.

Team 45- The TechnoKats are a 16 year team. They have one Championship and are willing to mentor any teams wishing to start. They are competitive in the robot competition. They are very active in their local community also.

I will add on to this later. If anyone has input PM it to me and I’ll add it on.

#5

Arefin, this is exactly what I was looking for! A lot of these people I’ve never even heard of before and if they’re that good, they should be recognized!

#6

Chapter 4, Part 1 - The Lone Star State (Texas).

Lucien - Without his passion for robotics, Texas wouldn’t be where it is today. This Mississippi beast is the backbone of the Robonauts as well as a big player in the Houston Robotics Education Program (HREP) and EARLY Robotics.

Lucia Sevcik - She is the Regional Director for Lone Star as well as an important figure on team 57 who also helps out with many HREP events.

JVN - “Only JVN can prevent forest fires!” What else can be said about this guy besides “WOW!” This man is full of ideas and is very passionate about what he does and is soo dedicated he missed some of the SuperBowl for FIRST! This man either by ideas, inspiration, or just stories, has probably had an influence on every team in FIRST.

Kevin Sevcik - A major player on team 57, he attends multiple HREP events to do whatever he can. His talents range from robotics to being a DJ. He is a very dedicated person and is always willing to help with help with any problem you have whether it be 2PM or 2AM.

Kris Verdeyen - You may have seen this guy yelling at the top of his lungs at Lone Star and he is the reason we all had a blast. This guy has been an MC for the LSR for the past few years and is also a very helpful guy when you have questions regarding anything that draws current.

Andrew Schuetze - He implemented the remote Kick Off in the Central Texas area (San Antonio) in 2007 and is determined to get some action going in the Central Texas area, such as off seasons.

Jane Young - A very talented, charismatic, NEM, who is dedicated to the success of robotics education in the central Texas region around Austin.

Jim Westmoreland - The recipient of the Outstanding Volunteer Award at the Lone Star Regional (2007) who is also the head referee at the Lone Star Regional as well as a referee at the Championship Event.

Stuart (1745) - A great guy who is willing to lend a hand where ever it is needed. He is a good guy to ask for help and will go out of his way to make sure you are satisfied and happy! I don’t know what I would do without this cowboy.

… Will update soon.

#7

Chapter 5- California

254: The Cheesy Poofs- These guys are the NASA Ames and Bellarmine Alliance, always producing powerhouses when in alliance with 968.

968: RAWC- Seriously sweet bot and team from SoCal, always produces a tough bot, backed by just as tough a drive team.

114: One of the lesser known teams of Silicon Valley, only recently emerging onto the field at SVR and other regionals as a serious contender. Known for the white lab coats, as well as sometimes blue hair.

SVR: Silicon Valley Regional- One of the more competitive regionals across the US, due to the powerhouse teams present in the Silicon Valley.

West Coast Drive: Cali is home to the most effective implementations of the West Coast Drive, found in 254/968, as well as others.

(I’ve missed a ton, as California is a very active state… It’s gotten to the point where every school around us for at least 50 minutes of driving has a FIRST team.)

#8

Since the season has begun (for those that don’t recharge batteries at ChiefDelphi.com daily) I think it is time that we update this with more chapters and revisions…

If your chapter has already been made you can make a section 2…etc. to modify it. I just think that this is a good topic that shouldn’t go to ‘waste’.

Pavan.

#9

Addition to West Coast in general:

West Coast Arm: A double jointed arm (one at the base, one in the middle) design especially prevalent on the west coast. Originally conceived by team 60, Kingman from Kingman, Arizona and brought into the limelight by 60’s collaboration with 254 in 2004.

#10

Chapter 5, California Part 2: The South

Team San Diego: a coalition of all the San Diego Area teams. They support each other at all events.

Rob Mainieri: Team lead of team 812 (the founder of Team San Diego) and WFA winner in 2006.

Moving north, we have:

SCRRF: the Southern California Regional Robotics Forum puts on numerous events through the year to help teams.

Chris Husmann: SCRRF president and FTA for the regional. Originally a mentor on team 330, he has helped mentor many new teams in the Los Angeles area.

Team 294: Beach Cities Robotics is one of the oldest teams in Southern California. They have one Nationals title under their belts, from 2001, and are ready to help out any time you need them.

Team 330: the Beach Bots are similar to team 294, but their Championship title is from 2005. Arguably the dominant team in Southern California on the field.

Team 599: the RoboDox are very helpful all around, from hosting events to helping other teams.

Team 968: See 114ManualLabor’s post. Another top team all around.

#11

Chapter 5, California Part 1: The North

Google - A major sponsor of FIRST located in the Bay Area.

NASA Ames - Sponsor of many teams. Regionals and scrimmages used to be hosted at Moffet field.

WRRF - Western Regional Robotics Forum - organizes the off-season competition Cal Games, and the WRRF workshops.

Ken Leung - Our local Dean Kamen, I believe he founded WRRF and has worked extensively to help local teams.

Ceil and Tim Craig - Mentors of now defunct team 1120, they teach many of the annual WRRF workshops and play a significant role in Cal Games.

Eugene Brooks - Mentor of team 1280 and another major contributor to WRRF and Cal Games.

Cory McBride, Bill Gold, EJ Sabithia (sry if I misspelled names) - Mentors of team 254, and excellent robot builders all around.

Mark Leon - One of the most famous announcers in FIRST and a bottomless source of energy.

Team 604 - Regional Chairman’s award winner, mentor for many local FLL teams, and a very friendly group of people.

Team 254 - Winner of the most regionals in history (I believe they are at 14), won SVR five times in a row, and members of the hall of fame - also helped spread FIRST to Hawaii and Alaska.

Teams 192, 114 - I consider these teams the “Kings of Animation.” 114 has won 6 regional AVA’s (three in one year!) and has got honorable mention at the championship. 192 has won 8 regional AVA’s and won the “Autodesk Grand Prize Visualization Award” at the championship (beating 114).

Teams 100, 255 (defunct), 232 (defunct) National Champions from the Bay Area.

#12