About Our Team
Volt-e-Mort is a team that consists of eight high school students; 15 to 17 year olds who attend Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, South Lakes High School, and Westfield High School. Each member of the team has contributed with full effort and uses gracious professionalism towards others everyday. This is our fourth season participating in FTC for most of us, and our experiences in the FIRST program have shaped us into the people we are today. Though we may seem to be a small team, we all have learned plenty with FTC.
Each one of us has a strong interest in STEM which has helped us develop skills that will aid us in our future career paths. We all have different interests and hobbies, yet we still come together as an united robotics team. We all have had experiences with FLL and STEM backgrounds for most of our lives, and FTC has been another amazing platform to share our love of STEM to the community.
Everybody on the team has had a positive outlook throughout this FTC journey and we all were involved in the rigorous learning process. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” Along with learning, we have had huge amounts of fun. The team has had a memorable learning experience throughout this season.
My name is Maria Izzi, and I am a 16 year old 10th grader. STEM has fascinated me for as long as I can recall and most parts of my life revolved around STEM, even before specific STEM programs were created. When I learnt about FTC, I knew I had to be one of the participants, because the learning opportunity was unsurpassable. A majority of my extra-curricular activities consist of STEM-related programs. Some of the activities I have been involved in include First Lego League (FLL), American Computer Science League (ACSL), Science Olympiad, Math Olympiad, and Idea-ventions Robotics. I like to spend my free time in improving my coding skills and enhancing my knowledge of mathematics and sciences, especially Java programming and robotics. I have been to STEM-related summer camps, including Tech Adventure Camp, Gains in Education of Mathematics and Science (GEMS) at the US Army Research lab, EV3 Robotics at Fairfax Collegiate, and few others.
FTC is a good challenge for me since I get a chance to see a variety of technology in a more advanced manner and that stimulates my thought process. I learn well in a group-setting; the constructive criticism from my teammates and Coach help guide me in shaping my technological mind well. Knowing that Gracious Professionalism is a major part of First Tech Challenge, my team mates and I do our best to be gracious and make the exciting learning opportunity fun for everyone. My goal for the competition is to learn rapid problem-solving, technical and mechanical, and teamwork skills, and I can't wait to be immersed in a fun learning experience!
Maria - Mechanics Lead
My name is Urvi Dhala, and I am a 16 year old student in 10th grade. Since my preschool days I have had a vast interest in many extracurricular activities which directly or indirectly expressed science, technology, engineering, and math. I remember eagerly picking the summer camps where I could explore new and emerging technologies and pleading my parents to join every one of them. Because I had the opportunity to indulge in many STEM activities from a young age, I found how critical learning and problem-solving is absolutely engaging; that's the prime reason why I decided to join this prestigious program, FIRST Tech Challenge.
FTC gave me the platform to learn and understand the value of the engineering process, an opportunity to reflect on my past experiences, and a guide to improve my technological skills. This is my fourth year participating in the FTC program; since I have already been exposed to STEM related programs (i.e Conrad Innovation Challenge, Future Business Leaders of America, Science/Math Olympiad, Internships for developing educational tech companies, American Computer Science League, tutoring students at Kumon, etc.), I found this program very interesting and a great way to broaden my horizons in the STEM world. We have an amazing team led by a highly knowledgeable mentor, and our collaborative effort is tremendous. My experience with FTC has been unforgettable, and I have learned a lot around designing, building, and programming a robot. Going forward, I will definitely continue participating and volunteering in FIRST Tech challenge and other FIRST programs in order to enhance my programming and mechanical knowledge as well as build upon my innovative skill set and gracious professionalism.
Urvi - Engineering Notebook/Business Lead
My name is Advika Jhingran and I am a 15 year old 10th grader. I really love FTC, for I have a passion for learning. I also have a fondness for reading and dancing. I have always a vast enthusiasm for STEM, which is shown through my participation in a plethora of STEM activities. ( FLL/ FTC, ACSL, AMC8, etc.) I enjoy programs which involve leadership skills and critical thinking. FTC seemed like a golden opportunity to display those traits. I also wanted to learn more about engineering and robotics, which is why I joined FTC.
I was (and am) very excited to be a part of FTC. The team's journey in FTC together has been a wonderful one. Just learning and programing and working with each other and the robot has been just phenomenal. I'm sure everyone's experience with this has been absolutely amazing.
Advika - Mechanics Lead
My name is Mitali Gandhe, and I am a 16 years old; a 10th grader. My hobbies include reading, listening to music, biking, and programming. I have had a passion for STEM since I was in elementary school. In third grade, I joined First Lego League, and continued to participate for four years. My team was very successful, attending state competitions all four years.
Joining FTC was a natural step from there. It allowed me to continue learning about robotics and, specifically, programming. Having done ACSL for two years and taking programming electives in school, I had a solid background in Java. I am glad to be able to contribute to this team, all while learning so many new things and building solid relationships with my team members.
Mitali - Programming and Electronics Lead
My name is Shrey Gupta. I am in 10th grade and I go to TJHSST. I have been been competing in robotics since 3rd grade and have loved every step of the journey from meeting new people to bonding with my team. Now that I am in high school, I am glad I learned about the First Tech Challenge and this amazing team that is full of talented individuals. I plan to continue developing my skills with CAD and programming through this team and collaborate with my teammates to have great future seasons.
Shrey - CAD and Design Lead
My name is Anshul Kumar. I am 15 years old and a student of 10th grade. I have been curious about technology since my childhood. I always keep up with the latest and emerging technology and gadgets which are released in the market. I enjoy programming in Java and building Legos. I have been building basic Legos since I was five and switched to Lego robotics when I was 10. I am so intrigued by technology that I assisted my dad build a desktop, micro server and replace hard drives on laptops with SSD’s to learn more about these devices. I joined FTC so that I could build on my foundation of robotics, and learn advanced programming. I enjoyed brainstorming and sharing ideas with my team and above all the team work.
Anshul - Programming Lead and CAD Specialist
My name is Arnav Jaggi. I am 15 years old and in 10th grade. I have been interested in technology for a long time now, it first caught my interest in first grade. I was at the science fair when I saw a project about the benefits and advantages of technology. I researched multiple devices that year and realized that I loved learning about and working with computers. Ever since then I have only increased my passion for it. I participated in FLL for one year and had a great time doing it. In the eighth grade, I joined ACSL. I learned Python and used it in ACSL. I joined FTC to further my knowledge of robotics, and learn advanced programming. I also enjoy playing basketball. Both FTC and basketball help me advance my teambuilding and teamwork skills.
Arnav - Outreach and CAD Lead
My name is Prashanth Kumaran, I am 14 years old, and in 9th grade. This is my 6th year in FIRST programs and my 3rd year in FTC. I have always been interested in technology since I first started FIRST Lego League (FLL), and I have been trying to help spread the word of FIRST for many years. For example, I mentored my sister’s FLL team and I have volunteered for FIRST Global in DC. I decided to join FTC so that I could continue my FIRST journey. I hope to learn and expand my knowledge on robotics and find more ways to promote the cause of FIRST. Outside of FIRST, my passions include marching band, gaming, and digital electronics.
Prashanth - Mechanics Lead
FTC Team Volt-e-mort #10357
