Aaron Becker
University of HoustonManufacturability, CNC, and additive manufacturing
TEAM-TO-TEAM SUPPORT
Mentorship
The team supports FLL and FTC students through troubleshooting, design review, documentation, and season planning.REACH
Mentorship at working scale
25+FLL teams mentored
Ongoing and event-based support for early-stage teams learning design, programming, and competition structure.
5Countries reached
Remote support makes technical feedback available beyond the Houston competition community.
216Mentoring hours
Time spent in workshops, direct reviews, troubleshooting sessions, and follow-up support.
500+FTC teams assisted online
Public technical answers and shared resources help teams solve specific build and programming problems.
A useful mentoring session should change how a team approaches its next problem, not just fix the current one.
Sessions begin by identifying the failure clearly: what the mechanism or code was expected to do, what actually happened, and which evidence is available. From there, the team helps isolate variables, choose a test, and understand the result.
Topics include PID tuning, mechanism geometry, electronics debugging, software organization, portfolio structure, award preparation, and competition logistics. Teams leave with a next step they can execute and a process they can repeat independently.
MENTORS
Professional review network
John Gibson
Nauticus RoboticsRoles, accountability, and engineering standards
Anand Bhattad
University of ChicagoPathfinding, algorithms, image analysis, and code structure
Mike Fincke
NASA astronautMath, system logic, and engineering perspective
Team alumni
College undergraduatesSeason planning and competition guidance
Manish Patel
Mechanical engineerMechanism review and practical design feedback