Mark is one of those few people that simply cannot be forgotten. He was an inspiration to all those that he came into contact.
In our first year in Las Vegas, Skunk Works had a good tournament and qualified for Atlanta, I, personally, couldn’t see a way for us to get there as it was just a few days away. Mark’s enthusiasm and efforts focused the team and through the efforts of the parents, mentors and NASA we found a way to get there.
This was the single turning point in the creation of our team and something I cannot forget or ever pay back in full.
I am sure our story is just one of hundreds of others in which Mark enriched and inspired both students and mentors to be more than they thought they could be.
It is hard to express the grief we feel when a person is physically lost to your “family”. I can only say that Mark truly lived the life of a stellar example of what FIRST is all about.
He will be missed but his legacy will live on in the lives of all those he touched.