Occasionally, RoboJackets officers will have to leave their position in the organization, often due to internships or study abroad opportunities that would limit their ability to perform their duties as an officer. In these situations interim elections are held to determine their replacements for the spring.
We took some time to meet these new officers and learn about what they’re looking forward to for the rest of the year.
Secretary – Keene Brogan
Keene is a first year CS major from Philadelphia. He joined the Robocup software team in the fall, and has really enjoyed meeting other RoboJackets members and getting more involved with the organization. As secretary he’s enjoyed putting on socials: “the retroTECH social was a lot of fun and I think people really enjoyed it (I almost got top 10 in oregon trail).”
Shop Manager – Keertik Bacon
Keertik is a second year mechanical engineering major. Hailing from the Baltimore, MD area, he’s a big NFL fan (go Ravens!) and is (according to himself) not a very good cook. Besides his responsibilities in RoboJackets, he’s also a PI at the Invention Studio. Joining RoboRacing’s mechanical subteam as a first year, he has primarily worked on Rigatonii, specifically on the braking subsystem. He also served as mechanical training lead this past fall. His favorite thing about RoboJackets has been meeting other members via socials and the leadership retreat, getting to know them “on a personal level, having fun and playing games.” He’s also looking forward to attending the upcoming evGrand Prix in May. As Shop Manager, he’s looking to improve the organization of the shop, primarily by constructing a new stock storage cabinet. He’s also looking to centralize the storage of fasteners and move unused tools out of the space.
Outreach Chair – Sunidhi Dhawan
Sunidhi is a first year computer science major that joined the RoboNav’s software subteam in the fall of 2021. She is queer and a fan of Christopher Nolan movies. In her free time she enjoys short distance running and playing the sitar. On her favorite parts of being part of RoboJackets, she discussed the leadership and training program: “One thing I really appreciate is how fluid and non-rigid the administration and organization in general is. This is definitely not something I expected since it’s such a large club, but I’ve found a lot of support and openness to ideas. I’ve also really enjoyed working on the software team – the [training program is] … hard to keep up [with], but you learn so much by the end. It’s a great investment to have outside my curriculum and I’m glad to have met incredibly smart and cool people!” As outreach chair, she’s excited to continue to coordinate and promote volunteering events. She’s also looking to encourage more cross communication/collaboration across the SCC car teams: ”One idea we’re hoping to take forward and implement in the future is having joint training sessions so teams can share and borrow expertise from other teams!”
RoboCup PM – Bernardo Perez
Bernardo is a second year electrical engineering major. He has been fencing competitively for +10 years. In his spare time he likes to play guitar and read. He first joined RoboJackets as first year as part of the RoboCup electrical subteam. In the fall of 2021 he was electrical lead for RoboCup. He has largely worked on the electrical systems of the RoboCup fleet, including the current control boards, kicker boards, and breakbeam boards. His favorite part of RoboJackets has been “learning skills [that] you may not learn inside the classroom and seeing your projects come to fruition.” As PM, Bernardo looks forward to advancing our team and taking the next steps to make us more competitive for the upcoming year.