Apart from being a full-time robotics engineer, Mike has been volunteering as a Lead Technical Mentor for Citrus Circuits for 13 years now – teaching high school students design, engineering, and programming to build competition-ready robots.
In 2015, his team, the Davis High School Robotics Team Citrus Circuits, competed in the FIRST Robotics World Championship, wherein nearly 600 teams from around the globe participated to compete in the season finale called “Recycle Rush.”
One of the challenges in that competition was for the robots to index and stack bins to gain points. Additional points were given for capping the stacks with a bonus can. In a twist, there were only a limited number of bonus cans per match so to beat the other teams, you had to grab the bonus cans first!
That year, the team designed “Lemon Drop”, a robot standing 6 feet tall and weighing 130 pounds, with an innovative hook system built to get to the bonus cans before their opponents. Incredibly, their final hook design accelerated from 0 to 120 mph in as quick as 12 seconds, swinging about 5 ft forward to grab the bonus cans and bring them into their court.
Lemon Drop’s hook was the fastest at the competition, playing a vital role in their world championship win.
To date, Mike has mentored teams in 27 Regional Events and attended the World Championship 9 times.
Nurturing a group of brilliant and passionate minds has been a fulfilling experience for Mike. In fact, six alumni of the program’s Davis High School Robotics Team were interns of NovaSource this summer.
Mike’s passion for robots and mentoring can be vividly seen with his works in NovaSource. The robotics team continues to innovate solutions and processes that drive efficiency improvements for renewable energy projects creating value for our clients.
Developing better technologies for the renewable energy space that help shape the world’s energy breakdown; and working with smart people fueled by innovative spirits motivate Mike to continue designing groundbreaking technologies.
If you’re interested to learn more about our robotic cleaning solutions, please contact us at info@novasourcepower.com. Don’t forget to follow our LinkedIn Page to stay updated and informed of our latest and upcoming activities.
