Senior Spotlight: Build Team

Peter R.

Peter joined Stryke Force as a junior in high school and has been on the team for 2 years. He is the Build Team Leader and Pit Captain, which are both very important roles. He did welding and machine-on parts for the 2021 comp robot.

Peter joined our student ambassador program from 2022-2023. He sang the national anthem with one of his teammates at the 2023 Lakeview robotics competition. He is famous for making delicious team dinners that the whole team enjoys.

Peter also does a good job of interacting with sponsors and other teams frequently throughout the season to build new relationships. His favorite memory was going to FRC Worlds in Houston and experiencing how to reassemble a fully decapitated head from the 2022 robot. “My favorite thing about Stryke Force is the connections we make as teammates. Although we may be working intensely on the robot's build, we can also spend time hanging out as friends. The mentors have also tremendously impacted my life and what I want in my future.”

An important life skill he has learned at Stryke Force is; “never to quit. While constructing the robot each season, a lot of us can be overwhelmed by the big project. But breaking it up into small steps really helps move you forward in your mission.”

After Peter graduates, he will be serving on a missionary team out of state for 10 months. It involves running religious retreats and programs for youth. Following that, he plans to pursue a career in Mechanical Engineering with the hopes to implement it in Robotic Prosthetics for youth and adults.

Thank you Peter for all the work you have put into our team!

Alex B.

Alex started Stryke Force 5 years ago in the FTC team Rover Ruckus, where they met some of their current FRC teammates. This year Alex has been an integral part of our Build sub-team, they are also our Media Tech and backup for Pit Crew.

“My freshman year was Infinite Recharge, and I was so excited to play the game and go to competitions. I really believe we could’ve won worlds with that robot. The level that it was operating by St Joe was phenomenal. sadly, St Joe was the only comp we got to go to because the next weekend the world shut down. I kind of skipped the virtual game year, virtual anything really was not for me. I was back and so ready for 2022, and I had so much fun. Watching us go all the way to Houston, and seeing how smooth and intricate the robot becomes over the season was absolutely amazing.”

Their all-time favorite FIRST game is 2016 Stronghold. “The way you had to make such a robust robot that can traverse so many obstacles is really interesting to me, and it just looked really cool too. ” I don’t think that I could choose a favorite memory. There's so much that I love about this team, it’s impossible to pick just one. The one thing all of my favorite memories have in common, however, is the sense of teamwork, cooperation, and just how well we get along. Most of my favorite memories have little to do with the robot, and everything to do with the people. FIRST really does use robots to build kids.”

“Knowing how to fix the robot is one thing, but knowing how to simultaneously fix 3 problems at once with 6 hands in the robot and everyone doing their own thing is insane. I'm still baffled by how fast the pit checklist gets run through at comps.”

One life lesson they’ve learned on the team is that things will work theoretically, but almost every time you’ll run into unexpected bumps. whether it’s testing a new intake that works perfectly in CAD, or if it’s planning your day out a certain way, there will always be bumps and hiccups. At the end of the day, you’ll get things done, but you’ll have done twice the work you thought you were going to do, so you have to be prepared. plan more time than needed. Their future plans are to go into college and study biomedical sciences, or biochemistry. Either of those would be on a pre-med track, to eventually go to medical school and end up a practicing endocrinologist researching Type 1 Diabetes.

Good luck Alex!