Board Members
President - Joe
Joe is a senior at South High School, and this is his 4th year on the team. As President, it is his job to see that the team is run smoothly and to make sure that everyone on the team does their job before, during, and after build season to make the team successful. He loves the team's sense of "teamliness" and gracious professionalism, as well as the gratification of seeing everyone's hard work become a living, breathing machine. Outside of Robotics, he enjoys cross country running, speech and debate, playing guitar, and anything to do with science. He can't wait to see the team's success this year!
Vice President - Meg
Meg is a senior and a second year member of TorBots. As the vice president of the club, she plans events, arranges meetings, delegates responsibilities, manages team members, guides fundraising efforts, and oversees team projects. Besides being on the TorBots robotics team and carrying a rigorous academic schedule, Meg is a 4-year member of the South High Marching Band, president of the Tri-M music honors society, a National Student Leadership Conference alumni, a competitive pianist, and enjoys playing the French horn and alto saxophone on the side. The process of building several different versions of the mini-bot (pictured) has her favorite TorBots experience so far, but the "TorBots family dinners" were a very close second.
Chief Engineer - Arren
Arren, a senior at South High School, serves as the Chief Engineer for the team. As Chief Engineer, he organizes and directs team engineering projects, making sure that TorBots standards of quality and craftsmanship are upheld, as well as teaching new engineers the tricks of the trade. When he isn't busy drilling holes or tightening screws, Arren enjoys camping, fishing, and hiking, carrying his trusty guitar with him all the while. Arren also has a strong interest in astronomy, the sciences, space exploration, and politics. He is involved in many other clubs and activities on the South High campus, most notably Speech and Debate and Cross Country running. In his opinion, the TorBots and their involvement with FIRST is teaching him more real-world/applicable information each day than all of his academic classes combined. He loves the people of the team and considers them as family.
Director of Finance - Shiloh
Shiloh will be entering her junior year at South High School and she is honored to be part of this talented and special team. The TorBots has turned out to be one of her best high school experiences. She is the Finance Director of TorBots and as such, her job is to find sponsors while getting the whole team involved in fundraising. In addition to Robotics, Shiloh plays guitar in the Jazz Band, serves on the Torrance Youth Council, serves as Vice President of Speech in Speech and Debate, serves as Vice President of Analecta (Art and Poetry Club), and serves as Co-President of the Gay-Straight Alliance. In her spare time, she likes to play music, listen to music, write poetry, draw, and hang out with friends. Her favorite thing about TorBots is spending time with such a smart, fun, group of kids while learning new things.
Director of Public Relations - Jane
Jane is a sophomore at South High School and the Director of Public Relations. This is her second year on the team, and she greatly enjoys being a part of it. As Director of Public Relations, Jane is in charge of external communication for the team, or what non-team members see when they look at the TorBots. Just a few of her responsibilities include organizing team apparel, school club days, and helping with team events. Her favorite thing about TorBots is watching everyone being so motivated and working hard for the sake of the team. Outside of TorBots, Jane is a member of South High's Speech and Debate team and South's Intermediate Dance. She has also been practicing voice for several years.
Director of Scouting and Strategy - Tyler
Tyler, a senior at South High School, is the TorBots' Director of Scouting and Strategy. This is his second year in this position, and his fourth year on the team. With each consecutive year his involvement with the team has grown, and robotics has become one of his favorite high school activities. When he is not working at school or for the TorBots he can be found working at Zamperini Field, Torrance's local airport. Tyler has had a lifelong passion for aviation, and has long aspired to become a commercial airline pilot. Tyler's favorite thing about the TorBots is the experience it has provided him in varying fields, and the knowledge he has gained as a result of being a member. Tyler is excited for his senior year and the upcoming robotics season.
Director of Outreach - Nick
Nick, a senior at South High, is this year's Director of Outreach for the TorBots Robotics team. As Director of Outreach, Nick ensures that all of the students in the Torrance Unified School District are aware of the team as well as making them eager to join. His goal for this year is to ensure that the TorBots have a more diverse pool of students from all the high schools in the the districts. This is his 3rd year in the club, last year being his favorite since he was part of the LA Regional winning drive team. His hobbies include playing sports (mainly soccer), reading, volunteering, and killing dragons. He is an avid supporter of the Argentine National Soccer Team since he was born in Buenos Aires and of the Philadelphia Eagles because it was the first football team he saw on TV. He is interested in politics and law and plans to follow that path in college. His favorite part of the team is that it is, in fact, a team. He loves the fact that the team is very close and care for each other. He is looking forward to this year and wants it to be the best the team has ever had.
Director of Logistics - Alyssa
Alyssa is a sophomore and a second year member of the TorBots. Currently the Logistics Director, she makes sure that the human needs of the team are met. This includes the management of food, supervision, and transportation, but also sewing our signature TorBot dolls for Regionals. Alyssa enjoys participating in the arts (particularly creating things through knitting, sewing, crocheting, etc), loves to sing, is an avid reader, and scuba-dives whenever the opportunity presents itself. In addition to her multitude of interests, Alyssa has been a Girl Scout for ten years; she is currently working on her Gold Award. Alyssa is a frequent traveler, exploring new cultures and places often. Though she loves the entire FIRST organization, TorBots has become her second home and she loves the whole experience. The thing she enjoys most is being able to take part in such an amazing organization and meeting so many interesting people. Being able to see the robot through gives her such pride in her team and she cannot wait to see what talent emerges this upcoming season.
Safety Captain - Shreyas
Shreyas is currently a sophomore at South High School and is thoroughly enjoying his second year with the TorBots. Serving as the team's Safety Captain, he tends to the safety needs of the team. Aside from administering safety tests and informing members of safe workshop habits, he also is in charge of the organization and general cleanliness of work areas. Shreyas also serves as the TorBots.com webmaster. As an amateur philosopher, he is passionate about Speech and Debate and is often found pontificating at great length about some subject or another. He absolutely loves anything to do with science and technology and when he isn't working on a robot in the shop, he's usually found programming or reading science journals. Shreyas' other interests include playing the drums, traveling, cross country running, reading, and political analysis. What he particularly loves about the TorBots organization is its ability to combine not only scientific principles but actual real world skills in one coherent package. He believes that it not only prepares students for an engineering workplace, but for the high pressure environment of corporate management. He eagerly awaits many more years of great experiences with TorBots.