Mentors

Lead Mentors

Randall Bryan

Randall

Randall is an associate and project manager with JMT Engineering in Sparks, MD. He graduated from San Francisco State University with a BS in civil engineering. He was drafted to mentor TechFire by his son, Jacob, who was in his second year of FRC. With a background as a varsity athlete and youth coach, Randall loves sport and kids, and as a National Honors Society member the technological aspect of robotics coupled with the Coopertition® through Gracious Professionalism® of FRC combines all of this into one. Randall has a firm respect for the FIRST mission of transforming our culture, by celebrating science and technology and the young people who dream of becoming leaders in these fields. He has been involved with FRC 225 for 6 years.

Quote: “Limits, like fears, are often just an illusion” – Michael Jordan

Matthew Kline

Matt

Matt is a senior project manager at St. Onge Co. Upon receiving mechanical and industrial engineering degrees, Matt immersed himself into the flow and design of manufacturing sites and warehouses. With such vast knowledge of mechanics and robotics, Matt is perfect for helping youth in mechanics and robotics through FIRST Robotics. In his spare time, Matt enjoys woodworking and auto rebuilding. He has been involved with FRC 225 for 11 years.

Quote- “Cut to suit, beat to fit, and paint to match.”

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/matthew-kline/23/12/37b

Amy Harmon Krtanjek

Amy

Amy has been involved with FIRST since 2010, starting as a volunteer at an FRC event, where she quickly embraced the principles of FIRST programs which inspired her to coach FIRST Lego League teams in Maryland and in York. Amy has coached FLL teams, been a technical mentor and judge for FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) events, organized FIRST Lego League (FLL) competitions in the York and is in her third year supporting TechFire as an engineering and project management mentor. Amy applies her career twenty-plus years of experience working as a project engineer in the defense industry, to help guide the team to ensure our students learn effective planning, engineering design, system integration, and project management skills which will serve them no matter what profession they choose to pursue! By day, Amy is the Program Director for Engineering and Robotics at York Country Day School. She holds a BS in Metallurgical Engineering Materials Science from Carnegie Mellon University and an MS in Engineering Management from University of Maryland Baltimore County. Amy is also a member of the Board of Directors and current Treasurer for TechFire Robotics of York.

Quote: "Great things are done by a series of small things brought together." -Vincent Van Gogh

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/amy-harmon-krtanjek/9/889/98b

Donnie Krtanjek

Donnie

Donnie is currently the Senior Manager, Unified Communications for DLA Piper, LLP, a leading global business law firm. Don’s experience here provides him with outstanding access to the newest trends in information technology, network communications and project management infrastructure. Donnie is a hands-on mentor and natural-born teacher with skills not only in information technology, but also brings his life experience by sharing skills in construction, mechanical assemblies and game strategy and analysis. Donnie contributes to TechFire in many ways both in and out of the shop, being a superstar in bringing on new sponsorship partners to the team in the past two years. Donnie is lead mentor for Game Strategy where he will apply his skills and experience as a multi-sport athlete, strategic analyst, and fierce business negotiator to guide TechFire in making the right decisions for robot design, and on-field strategy to continue TechFire’s drive to excellence and dominance within MAR. Donnie has been involved with FRC 225 for 6 years.

Quote: "A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be." -- Wayne Gretzky
www.linkedin.com/in/krtanjek

Ben Martin

Ben

Ben has been involved with FIRST for fifteen years in various capacities, including 7 years with 225. He was on FRC Team 234, CyberBlue, in high school for four years.During this time, he also mentored a VEX robotics team at the local middle school for three years. Ben mentored FRC team 1747, Boiler Robotics for four years at Purdue University. He was a member of Purdue FIRST Programs, a Purdue FIRST-affiliated organization that promotes STEAM education in local schools and the state of Indiana. While getting his MBA, in addition to mentoring 225, Ben also mentored FRC team 7274, the Brashear Bulls, and FRC team 3504, the Girls of Steel. Ben is a former FIRST Senior Mentor for Eastern PA & DE. Ben holds an engineering degree from Purdue University and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon.

www.linkedin.com/in/btmartin1747/

Associate Mentors

Skip Billet

Skip

Skip has been involved with TechFire 225 since his son, Owen, first began participating on the team in 2012. Skip has owned his electrical contracting company in York since 1995, and brings a vast knowledge of wiring to the team. Coaching youth baseball has been a real joy in his life, and he is excited to now be coaching kids on the robotics field as well! Encouraging a group of kids with many different personalities and levels of experience to work together as a real team is his focus.

Marshall Coyle, PH.D., P.E.

Marshall

Marshall started doing professional drafting while still in high school and had early exposure to a range of manufacturing operations. He worked for the US Army Corps of Engineers as a civil engineer. Then he was employed by Reynolds Metals Company's Corporate Research Division as a mechanical engineer developing aluminum products. He currently teaches statics, dynamics, strength of material and thermodynamic engineering classes at Penn State York. He has five years of experience with FIRST as an FTC event coordinator, judge, mentor, and FLL mentor. He is a Registered Engineer and has a BS in Civil Engineering from Virginia Military Institute, Masters and Ph.D. in Mechanical Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia.

Quote: "Do one before you do one"

www.linkedin.com/pub/marshall-coyle/40/210/611

Leon Lobos

Leon

Leon holds an MBA in international finance, is a CMA Certified Management Accountant and is employed as a company controller. He heard about the program while attending a Manufacturing Association meeting in York, PA. The company was host to FRC Team 225 who at the time was looking for student programmers. Thrilled to find an opportunity for his son Andrew, Leon jumped into a mentoring roll for 225. His experience playing football in college brings an element of gamesmanship to our team.
Leon is passionate about how good FIRST is for our country. FIRST FTC teams are forming and growing in the Lancaster and York area due to Leon's involvement and encouragement. He founded FTC Team 4977, the LANLords, so his son, Andrew, and his friends could have more opportunity to participate in the FIRST experience. Leon has also been instrumental in forming other FTC teams in Lancaster through the Alcoa Foundation grants. To relax, Leon plays banjo, guitar and attends bluegrass festivals. Leon also serves on the TechFire Robotics of York Board of Directors.

www.linkedin.com/pub/leon-lobos/12/6aa/505

Tom Traina

Tom

Tom was introduced to FIRST when his son joined the Techfire team in 2014. He quickly learned to appreciate the opportunity FRC offers students to gain real life experience through hands on problem solving by participating in the build season. Tom brings teamwork and leadership experience as a business technology professional to help students work through challenges in a competitive robotics season

"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success." - Henry Ford

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomtraina

College Mentors

Andrew Lobos (University of Pittsburgh)