2023-2024 team
alex battikha
Grade 11 at Westview High School
Role: Mechanical Team Captain
Most Proud of this year: I am very proud of how much each team member and the team as a whole has grown in the past several years. After our team's successful Freight Frenzy season, we went from a team of 15 to 4 members due to graduation. Despite this, we persevered through financial challenges, recruited and trained new members, and continued our quality outreach initiatives. Despite all of the challenges, we were back on the grand finals stage 2 years later as the Winning Alliance team.
Hobbies: Building and flying drones in my free time
Favorite Food: Steak
hudson kim
Grade 11 at Westview High School
Role: Software Team Captain
Most Proud of this year:
Hobbies: Playing badminton and watching F1 Racing
Favorite Food: Sushi
fiona ruan
Grade 12 at Canyon Crest Academy
Role: Outreach Team Captain
Most Proud of this year: I'd say I'm most proud of how we have all come together as a team and grown so much together while still being competitive enough to win both Franklin Inspire and Championships!
Hobbies: I also enjoy drawing and sleeping
Favorite Food: Noodles
Danielle Dee
Grade 10 at Carlsbad High School
Role: Outreach Lead; Human Player
Most Proud of this year: I am most proud of being part of the winning alliance at Worlds with AI Citizens and Texpans, winning Inspire in our division, and scoring the 416 pt world record with Roboctopi because it is a direct reflection of the hard work, drive, and collaboration of everyone on the team. Software pulled off an amazing auto, the thousands of hours spent on driver practice led to near flawless driving, and mechanical's systems worked exactly as intended.
Hobbies: Outside of robotics I compete in speech and debate. Originally I got into it to overcome my fear of public speaking, but after accomplishing that it has also become a place for me to advocate for what I believe in, which I think is even more powerful. (+ the ability to yell over announcers as hp)
Favorite Food: I like Chinese, Japanese, and Korean food the most (no one item in particular).
zaiden Dee
Grade 11 at Carlsbad High School
Role: CAD Lead
Most Proud of this year: Winning worlds against all odds, somehow getting our dream alliance with AI Citizens, winning each elim on narrow 2-1 tiebreakers, and keeping up with very strong teams in finals
Hobbies: Debate, graphic design, video editing, history, geopolitics, video games
Favorite Food: Japanese, Chinese, Italian
david lu
Grade 9 at Canyon Crest Academy
Role: I am part of the mechanical build team and also help with fabrication and driver b on the drive team.
Most Proud of this year: Being a driver at Worlds my first year at FTC
Hobbies: I like to create art, make origami, and play badminton!
Favorite Food:
liam sagi
Grade 9 at Westview High School
Role: I CAD, fabricate, and assemble the robot. I also enjoy organizing outreach
Most Proud of this year: I am very proud of all the outreach we do, and how much effort we put in it.
Hobbies: I love parkour and free running, along with aerial and video games.
Favorite Food: My favorite food is mint chocolate chip ice cream.
elaina shao
Grade 11 at Canyon Crest Academy
Role: Mechanical Build Lead, Outreach Member
Most Proud of this year: Winning worlds !
Hobbies: Competitive and casual art, video games
Favorite Food: Duck Noodle Soup
woobin wang
Grade 11 at Westview High School
Role: I'm an outreach member and also learning software!
Most Proud of this year: I'm most proud of the dedication that everyone on the team has to the team, as well as winning Inspire for the Franklin Division!
Hobbies: I play violin with San Diego Youth Symphony and play beach volleyball. I also like to draw and read in my free time!
Favorite Food: spring rolls
nathan xie
Grade 11 at Westview High School
Role: Mechanical Build Lead
Most Proud of this year: I'm very proud of all the effort and hard work from everyone on the team to win Worlds
Hobbies: Soccer (Westview Varsity), Video Games
Favorite Food: Chicken Alfredo Pasta
kyle zheng
Grade 11 at Westview High School
Role: Software Member
Most Proud of this year: I am most proud of achieving the world record and qualifying for Worlds
Hobbies: Violin (SDYS ovation), Badminton (Westview varsity)
Favorite Food: Noodles
neil zhu
Grade 11
Role: CAD design, Mechanical Build Lead, Driver A
Most Proud of this year: Over the summer, I designed and built a differential swerve drivetrain. It is able to achieve omnidirectional movement by rotating the two drive wheels with differential gearsets powered by four motors. It was one of the most challenging projects I've done and I'm really proud of it.
Hobbies: In my free time I enjoy designing, building, and flying my own RC airplanes. I have been an active member of Silent Electric Fliers of San Diego and Torrey Pine Gulls for 6 years. I regularly compete in monthly club competitions such as the Electricglide which I won overall first place last year. I also like to build machines in my free time, last summer I built a high-speed 3D printer with 3D printed components. I Also designed and built my own desktop CNC router capable of milling aluminum alloy.
Favorite Food: Vegan
joe wetherell
Work PhD Researcher, Center for Communications Research
Role: Coach
Most Proud of this year: So many things. I mostly worked with the Robusted kids and they really put in a lot of effort. They listened and learned, but they also showed good judgement when it was time to make decisions about what changes were worth pursuing.
Hobbies: Coach Westview Science Olympiad students in the Codebusters event.
Favorite Food: Grilled chicken sandwich
Peter wetherell
Senior Computer Science w/ Computer Engineering at Colorado School of Mines
Role: Software Mentor
Most Proud of this year: I am proud of the teams commitment to sustainability. Specifically, in supporting efforts to ensure The Clueless and FTC will continue grow in the San Diego Region and beyond.
Hobbies: Rocket league, reading, video making.
Favorite Food: Arroz con Frijoles Pinto al Estilo Cubano
won kim
Cloud Architect at Qualcomm
Role: Coach and Fabrication supervisor
Most Proud of this year: I am so proud of the team getting Inspire award in the Tao League and Franklin Division
Hobbies: Video games, videography, drawing, building legos with my youngest son and being a dad to all my kids.
Favorite Food: Korean Bibimbap