FIRST Robotics...highlighting our FTAs!

There was about 100 people in the room, a heavy engineering crowd which should

be intimidating, but these are an amazing collection of people from all over the

world that come together to learn how to assemble the FIRST Robotics Competition

playing field for this season- no easy task.

There was a large contingent from Michigan, who all looked so young. Like they

had just come from their SAT tests, which bodes well for the future of FIRST in

Michigan. They may be young, but they are smart and dedicated volunteers who

are going to save someone’s bacon in the future, both in and out of FIRST. You

can count on that. I hope to get to know some of these guys at the Championship

in Detroit!

There were FTAs from Mexico, Israel, Canada, and other places that I probably

didn’t catch onto like Turkey and Australia. Great folks coming great

distances. I got to see a couple of the amazing folks from AndyMark who I would

serve with on the road any day. Give me any of them and I know the show will be

Fine.

The Kicked Ass Award is a new concept for SRE to present to the FTAs, however I

have been giving to a SRE team member for the past few years. Some of the

things I think about when considering the qualities of the winner are problem

solvers, positivity and people who are happy being “Behind The Scenes”. Behind

the scenes to me means that you are not craving attention of the very thanks and

recognition that this award gives.

These people got to have their day opened with Derek and Frank, and then turned

the floor over to me. I had the pleasure of introducing the finalists for this

award as voted on by the SRE team. The finalists were from Arizona, Nate

Lucier, from Indiana (but really all over the globe for FIRST) Jerry Budd, and

Jared Olewine from San Diego. These are great guys who also happen to be great

engineers. Not so unlike the rest of the room. I then got to announce the

winner, Mark McLeod from Long Island, New York.

Mark is such a nice person and solid trouble shooter on the road. He doesn’t

freak out. He thinks and solves. He also puts in his time on the Long Island

committee while managing his career and family responsibilities. He’s a total

team player who is a behind the scenes guy, never looking for accolades or any

extra considerations than any other volunteer. Oh and he’s a mentor on a team

too. Amazing!

Don’t let the name fool ya’...this is an important award that recognizes the bond

that the SRE team has with these important members and partners in

the FIRST community. To Nate, Jared, Jerry and Mark, congratulations on your

recognition. To all of the FTAs, on behalf of the SRE team, we respect and

salute you! Have an amazing 2018 FRC Season!!!

Steve

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