FIRST Nevada Alumni

Alumni – who belong to a global, lifelong community – are encouraged to give back by volunteering, mentoring, donating, recruiting, and spreading the message of FIRST ®. The Alumni program aims to inspire young adults who previously participated in any of the four FIRST programs. Over 400,000 students have participated in FIRST and 89.6% of alumni have chosen a profession in a STEM-related field. FIRST is proactive in aiding both students and alumni in finding scholarships, internships, careers and networking opportunities.

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Alumni Links & Resources



Class of 2023 FIRST Nevada Alumni

Angelo Morales

FRC 7424 Silverado High School Has plans to go to CSN, then UNLV for electrical engineering, and planning on volunteering and mentoring FIRST teams.

Dax Quick

FRC 8387 and FTC 14194 Advanced Technologies Academy Will be attending UNR, pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering. Dean’s List semi-finalist for FRC.

Austin Howell

FRC 988 Clark High School Going to the United States Army and obtaining a bachelor's degree in information technology and network security.

Riley Sawdon

FRC 8005 The Meadows School Will be dual majoring in physics and mechanical engineering at Southern Methodist University

Mark Soares

FRC 987 Cimarron-Memorial High School Will be attending TESLA's Manufacturing Development Program Internship.

Herman Ben Toledo

FRC 8717 Desert Oasis High School Will study computer science at UNLV.

Ko Flynn

FRC 8387 and FTC 14194 Advanced Technologies Academy Will be attending TESLA's Manufacturing Development Program Internship.

Cole Kenny

Founder at CU Hyperloop - Ph.D. Candidate in Autonomous Systems at the University of Colorado, Boulder

Angelo Morales

FRC 7424
Silverado High School
Has plans to go to CSN, then UNLV for electrical engineering, and planning on volunteering and mentoring FIRST teams.

Dax Quick

FRC 8387 and FTC 14194
Advanced Technologies Academy
Will be attending UNR, pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering. Dean’s List semi-finalist for FRC.

Austin Howell

FRC 988
Clark High School
Going to the United States Army and obtaining a bachelor’s degree in information technology and network security. In the distant future, plans on contracting with the US Army, specifically around virtual recruiting activities.

Riley Sawdon

FRC 8005
The Meadows School
Will be dual majoring in physics and mechanical engineering at Southern Methodist University

Mark Soares

FRC 987
Cimarron-Memorial High School
Will be attending TESLA’s Manufacturing Development Program Internship to pursue a career in Automotive Software Development for Electric Vehicles.

Herman Ben Toledo

FRC 8717
Desert Oasis High School
Will study computer science at UNLV.

Ko Flynn

Cole Kenny

Founder at CU Hyperloop – Ph.D. Candidate in Autonomous Systems at the University of Colorado, Boulder

FIRST Nevada Alumni

Brandon Hjelstrom

Limelight Founder, FRC Team 987 Alum and Mentor. Limelight is manufactured in a US factory and was developed 100% by former students and mentors of FIRST teams.

Cody Wall

Graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in 2015 with a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Robotics Engineering. 2016-2018, Computer Science and Robotics Teacher at Cimarron-Memorial High School;

Caroline Trunoske

FRC Team 987 Alum and Mentor. FIRST LEGO League Coach and FIRST Robotics Competition volunteer

Jamie Poston

Graduated University of Nevada, Reno with Masters in Computer Science and Engineering. Currently working remotely as a machine learning engineer. Awarded Northern Nevada Volunteer of the Year 2022.

Zane Grothe

Graduated Auburn University Aerospace Engineering (Swimming accomplishments include; 2017 World Championships; 8th in 800 meter freestyle, Bronze in 4x200meter freestyle relay. Auburn Record-Holder (500 free, 1000 free, 1650 free, 800 free relay. Currently training for 2020 Olympics)

Nathan Richner

Graduated University of California Berkley. Dual major Physics-Nuclear Engineering, Currently in PHD graduate program University of Wisconsin- Maddison Plasma Physics

Sean Hickey

Graduated from University of California Berkley Electrical Engineering

Lexi Lagan

Graduated from University of Utah – Physics (First- and third-place awards at National Rifle Association’s Air Pistol National Championship 2017. Currently training for 2020 Olympics)

Brent Hickey

Graduated from University of California Santa Cruz Computer Engineering

Chandler Harkins

Attending Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Major engineering

Grayson Taylor

Attending University of Oregon

Breanne Harkins

Attending University of Denver

Maddison Sargent

Attending Bringham Young University

Blake Goodfellow

Attending Bringham Young University -Major Engineering

Brenden Warnke

Attending University of Nevada, - Biology

Price Poston

Graduated from UNR with B.S in Computer Science and Engineering.  Senior Product Engineer at Ridgeline

Cole Kenny

Attending University of Colorado Boulder - Aerospace Engineering

Lanielle Pavlik

FRC Team 8387 Advanced Technologies and FTC 14194 - Will be attending UNR, pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and Engineering. Dean List semi-finalist for FTC and FRC.

Allen Xu

FRC Team 8717- Desert Oasis High School. Plans to attend college at UNLV. in NevadaCompetition volunteer

Allison Hickman

FRC Team 7426 - SECTA. Will be going to Utah for college.

Preston Freeth

FRC Team 7654 - Coral Academy. Will be attending the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and I will be pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Julianna Schneider

A participant on two FTC Teams (Nevada and Albania). Incoming freshmen at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and will be majoring in AI and Decision Making.

Brandon Hjelstrom

Limelight Founder, Mentor, and Alum of FRC(FIRST Robotics Competition) Team 987 (HIGHROLLERS).

Limelight is manufactured in a US factory and was developed 100% byformer students and mentors of FIRST teams.  “Perception and its ever-deepening integration with robot planning and control are some of the only areas in robotics that have room to improve by several orders of magnitude. It is for this reason that we need as many students as possible to familiarize themselves with the promise of computer vision before they choose their career paths.

The Limelight Robotic Vision Platform makes cutting-edge computer vision as easy as possible for students since the resource most lacking in the FIRST Robotics community is software mentorship. Before Limelight, you could count on your hands the number of FIRST robotics teams utilizing computer vision to improve robot performance. Today, Limelight and vision-guided control are standard features for nearly every FIRST team, regardless of experience level. Rookie teams proudly send us videos of their robots autonomously completing tasks with Limelight, and top teams continue to win countless events with Limelight as the totality of their perception systems. Limelight is taking a giant leap toward enabling fully autonomous vision-based robots in 2023, so I’m incredibly excited to see what happens next.”  – Brandon Hjelstrom (Limelight Founder & FIRST Alum)

 

Cody Wall

Graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in 2015 with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Robotics Engineering. 2016-2018, Computer Science and Robotics Teacher at Cimarron-Memorial High School; Alumni & Coach of FRC Team 987, Coach of VRC Team 987, Coach of SkillsUSA Mobile Robotics, & Chess Coach. 2018-2022, Magnet & STEM Coordinator at Lied STEM Academy

Caroline Trunoske

987 Alum and Mentor. FIRST LEGO League Coach and FIRST Robotics Competition volunteer

Jamie Poston

Graduated University of Nevada, Reno with Masters in Computer Science and Engineering. Currently working remotely as a machine learning engineer. Awarded Northern Nevada Volunteer of the Year 2022.

Zane Grothe

Graduated Auburn University Aerospace Engineering (Swimming accomplishments include; 2017 World Championships; 8th in 800 meter freestyle, Bronze in 4x200meter freestyle relay. Auburn Record-Holder (500 free, 1000 free, 1650 free, 800 free relay. Currently training for 2020 Olympics)

Nathan Richner

Graduated University of California Berkley. Dual major Physics-Nuclear Engineering, Currently in PHD graduate program University of Wisconsin- Maddison Plasma Physics

Sean Hickey

Graduated from University of California Berkley Electrical Engineering

Lexi Lagan

Graduated from University of Utah – Physics (First- and third-place awards at National Rifle Association’s Air Pistol National Championship 2017. Currently training for 2020 Olympics)

Brent Hickey

Graduated from University of California Santa Cruz Computer Engineering

Chandler Harkins

Attending Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Major engineering

Grayson Taylor

Attending University of Oregon

Breanne Harkins

Attending University of Denver

Maddison Sargent

Attending Bringham Young University

Blake Goodfellow

Attending Bringham Young University -Major Engineering

Brenden Warnke

Attending University of Nevada, – Biology

Price Poston

Graduated from UNR with B.S in Computer Science and Engineering.  Senior Product Engineer at Ridgeline

Cole Kenny

Attending University of Colorado Boulder – Aerospace Engineering

Lanielle Pavlik

FRC Team 8387 Advanced Technologies and FTC 14194 – Will be attending UNR, pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and Engineering. Dean List semi-finalist for FTC and FRC.

Allen Xu

FRC Team 8717- Desert Oasis High School. Plans to attend college at UNLV. in NevadaCompetition volunteer

Allison Hickman

FRC Team 7426 – SECTA. Will be going to Utah for college.

Preston Freeth

FRC Team 7654 – Coral Academy. Will be attending the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and I will be pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Julianna Schneider

A participant on two FTC Teams (Nevada and Albania). Incoming freshmen at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and will be majoring in AI and Decision Making.

FIRST Nevada Alumni Job Opportunities

Interested in staying connected about internship opportunities and more

FIRST Alumni Networking Group