Alycia became a Fabrication Mentor in 2023 and works at BAE Systems in the Boulder Machine Shop. She has an Associate of Science from Red Rocks Community College and earned a Manual Machining Certificate from Front Range Community College, where she was one of Bruce’s students. Alycia has a strong passion for manufacturing and loves sharing that excitement with students. She enjoys helping them build hands-on skills and confidence in the shop.

OUTREACH MENTOR, April Franks PhD: April is passionate about helping others to develop people and leadership skills while inspiring collaboration within and across teams; she is excited to mentor students on the Outreach Subteam this year given its focus on helping others within FIRST as well as our local community. April spent nearly 25 years working in oncology drug development within the pharmaceutical industry, contributing to the preclinical and clinical research efforts of over 15 new medicines for 10 different types of cancer. She has been recognized as a results-driven strategic leader, most recently serving as the Global Medical Head for Genitourinary and Gynecological Cancers at AstraZeneca

Bruce is a Fabrication Mentor, Leadership Mentor, and Secretary of the Board of Directors. He learned to machine in his retirement and has been machining for more than ten years. He is also an Adjunct Instructor at Front Range Community College where he teaches in the Machining, Manufacturing Technology, and Electronics departments. He holds BSEE and MSEE degrees and had a career in the high tech field after completing 6-1/2 years in the Army. He has been a mentor with the team since 2016.

She homeschooled her three, now in career engineers, K-12. All three are FIRST Robotic alumni. Now, she is the Robotics Operations Support Manager for Toro Robotics and is responsible for the system integration test team, prototype robot installs and Engineering Support for Customer Care. 

FIRST Robotics alumni, w/ 10 years of experience in the program. Proud mentor of 1619 for 3 years and annual volunteer for competition field crews. Current Colorado School of Mines student.

Emily is a FIRST alumna who participated as a student on team Furious Falcons from 2015 to 2018. Professionally, she works as an Offensive Security Consultant for Mandiant (Google), specializing in red team operations and physical entry engagements. Since 2024, she has returned to the FIRST community as a software mentor for Up-A-Creek Robotics, where she helps students develop their technical skills.

Jason has been a dedicated mentor for Team 1619 since 2018 and now serves as the team’s Lead Technical Mentor. He works closely with students to guide them through engineering challenges, helping them develop practical skills in design, problem solving, and teamwork. Jason is especially passionate about creating STEM opportunities for underserved communities, believing that robotics offers not only technical knowledge but also confidence, leadership, and lifelong skills. 

Kassi is a Fabrication and Strategy Mentor. She was a mechanical design student on Up-A-Creek in 2013 and returned as a mentor in 2017. Kassi earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from CU Boulder and has worked mostly in aerospace since graduation. She currently works at a local startup designing and building solar arrays for satellites.

Prior to beginning a family, Katie worked as a non-clinical physician and published basic science research. After choosing the family path, she spent six years roadschooling her kids by traveling around the country in a camper and visiting museums, historic sites, caves, factories, mines, planetariums and whatever else presented educational opportunity. She currently works as a high school math tutor with the Boulder Valley School district and mentors in the machine shop. 

In high school, Kyle was on the team as a Fabrication team member from 2017-2019 and then became the Construction Lead for 2019-2021. After graduating from the Colorado School of Mines in 2025 with his B.S. in Chemical Engineering, he's back as a mentor helping out the Hardware Design team. Some of his hobbies include 3D printing, CAD design, building computers, and camping.

I started in FRC on team 1538 The Holy Cows when I was in high school in 2009. I moved to Colorado after I graduated college in 2015 and started mentoring Up-A-Creek in 2018. I started with mentoring the software team and have since expanded to being the drive coach. 

Rowan recently moved to the Longmont area having completed her degree in Mechanical Engineering. She is excited to build robots and community working among the wonderful mentors and students of Up-A-Creek and the Hardware Design subteam. Outside of robotics, Rowan enjoys hiking trails, drawing birds, learning languages, and dancing West Coast Swing.

Tom is a Fabrication mentor having joined the team in 2014 when his daughter started on the team. His day job is as a software engineer at BAE Systems, Inc. (formerly Ball Aerospace) where he has been for 35+ years. He strives to make Up-a-creek and Fabrication a fun and educational experience, full of laughter, music and connection that is “more than robots”.