Our Story

A rookie FRC team years in the making.

Built for the Moment

More Than Robots

Robotics sounds intimidating until a girl sees someone who looks like her actually doing it. Not watching a robot, but building one and explaining how it works. That changes things fast. VOLT was built for that moment, and for what comes after it.

Our rookie FRC team grew from two all-girls FTC programs, Polytechnic Puzzle Pieces #16751 and Gear Girls #23469. This season, students carried that work forward onto our FRC season, drawing from students representing seven schools across the area.

VOLT team on the competition field
Student-Led

The students run things.

To make the jump from FTC to FRC, we built out student-led subteams across every discipline. Mentors are there, but the students lead. If something goes wrong, they figure out why. If it works, they know exactly what they did to make it happen.

🤖

Robot Build

Design/CAD, Electrical, Mechanical, Instrumentation & Integration, Software, and Maintenance & Testing.

📋

Business

Outreach & Community Engagement, Documentation, Scouting & Research, Safety, Media & Marketing, Finance, and Project Management.

🏆

Captains

Robot and Business each have a student captain, and so does every subteam. A student can join several teams but captain only one.

A VOLT student working on the robot
Our Approach

Master the fundamentals first.

We took a pragmatic approach to our rookie year, starting from a proven REV starter-bot foundation and improved it from there. That kept our students on the basics first: build something reliable, wire it safely, get real drive practice, and learn how FRC works as a team. Along the way they built tools and habits that carry into next season.

Coaches & Mentors

Guided by professionals

Our mentors act as guides and subject-matter experts across every discipline of FRC, sharing professional experience and coaching students in problem-solving.

George Mitchom
Head Coach

Software Engineering Manager at Boeing with 26+ years in IT and 11 years as a FIRST volunteer across FLL Jr., FLL, and FTC.

Nicole Bell
Mentor / Co-Lead

Special education teacher specializing in dyslexia intervention and a veteran FIRST coach, bringing strong educational and organizational leadership.

Megan Zaiz
Mechanical Engineering

Manufacturing Engineer at Boeing and FTC alumna with B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Missouri S&T.

Matthew Hui
Software Engineering

Software developer for the U.S. Air Force with multiple years of FRC mentoring experience in software and robot control systems.

Sarah Hayden
Design Engineering

Design Engineer at Permobil and FRC alumna with a Master's in Biomedical (Biomechanics) Engineering from Marquette University.

Marco Mocchetti
Software Engineering Manager

Software Engineering Manager at Boeing, bringing years of software engineering and product manager experience to our team.

Vanessa Diaz
Instrumentation

Instrumentation & Electrical Team Lead at Phillips 66, guiding students on sensor usage, wiring, controls, and instrumentation.

Matthew Sabo
3D Printing & Additive

Superintendent of Wing Innovation at Scott AFB (AFWERX), guiding students in 3D printing, additive manufacturing, and rapid prototyping.

Class of 2026

100% into STEM.

This year we have four graduating seniors, and all four are pursuing STEM majors. For this senior class, FIRST helped support a 100% continuation into STEM fields.

Chemical Engineering · Purdue Mechanical Engineering · Missouri S&T Electrical Engineering · Missouri S&T Computer Science / Cyber · Colorado State
VOLT seniors with their college commitments