My name is Alex, I am currently in 8th grade. This is my 2nd year taking part in FIRST Tech Challenge with the Gear Freaks (FTC 4991). Before joining Gear Freaks, I used to program the EV3 Lego Mindstorm kits at school. I got interested in robotics after visiting NASA and Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and watching robots being used at ARL as a participant in their summer program Gains in the Education of Mathematics and Science (GEMS). GEMS is an Army-sponsored, summer STEM enrichment program for middle and high school students that takes place in participating Army research laboratories and engineering centers. I have attended GEMS at ARL for the past 2 summers. I have always had an interest in technology and am fascinated by how technology helps save lives. I am currently a coder and prefer my current position to being a builder as I like math and coding helps me solve problems by thinking logically.
At school, I maintain straight A’s and I represent my class in Student Government Association (SGA). Math, Tech. Ed. and Science are my favorite subjects. They allow me to think logically and analyze problems to reach a solution. When I grow up I want to be a doctor or a computer engineer.
Besides Lego Mindstorm, I have also programmed in Scratch and created a program similar to Balloons Tower Defense 5 (BTD5). I also like to code games on my TI-84 scientific calculator. I am currently working on creating a Super Mario game. I am excited to be part of the Robotics team and look forward to enhancing my coding skills.