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| Home Page > About Us > The Team > Mentors | |||
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Our team feels that we need to knowledge the proud and the brave - The Mentors. Our volunteers have shared their many skills obtained from their life’s experiences. We really appreciate all their help! Mentors
Mr.Linford has helped the field construction team and has helped in any other area where he could find help. He started mentoring for team 578 when his son Dan Linford, became involved with FIRST Robotics three years ago, and he really enjoyed working with the team. Because Carpentry has been a hobby of his for years he decided to help with the field construction. After his son Dan Graduated, and his son Ben is on the team he wanted to continue to help and contribute to the sucess of the team. He also will mentor for team 578 next year as well! This year Paul Linford liked how the students have taken over more of the responsibility for all aspects of the project. He likes the fact that the students are taking a lot of ownership for their portions of the robot as well as showing their willingness to jump in and help whereever needed. He also wanted to say "As I said before, this is my third year as a mentor... and to me, it looks like the students have really come together to produce one of the best robot designs, along with building the strongest TEAM yet! Go Blue Lightning!!"
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Dr. Hensel has been with us for a long time; the longest of all our mentors. He was kind enough to help us for the past 5 years because he believes that the world needs more young people to pursue careers and hobbies in engineering, science, and technology in the United States. Because of this passion, he is a Professor and currently Department Head of Mechanical Engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology. If you visit Team 578 during the build season, he will most likely be found helping the sub-teams. The thing Dr. Hensel likes most about Team 578 is that, each year, the students are becoming more responsible. They’re making design decisions and leading the various sub-teams. Dr. Hensel mentioned that he’s going to help Team 578 out again next year! He also has this to say: "I think the team is growing and maturing in many ways. Within 2 or 3 years we will have a showcase team! GO BLUE LIGHTNING!""
Dan DiGiacomandrea, "Mr.D", is also an important advisor of Team 578. He has helped with the Spirit and Cart sub-team the most. He also takes care of the many emails that are sent to all of the team members. He has also helped to recruit some of our volunteers. He is a Senior Technical Salesman for Bayer CropScience selling agriculture crop protectants. He joined because he believed in the objectives of FIRST and wanted to help students find engineering fun and interesting. One thing he likes about Team 578 this year is the way the team has come together and worked as a collaborative group. Unfortunately, this will be his last year volunteering, and the team will miss him!
David Breese is an advisor for Team 578 and also a 9th grade Technology Teacher in the Fairport School District. He has been with the team since 2004. He joined Team 578 because the school needed an advisor for the Robotics club. He also wanted to help and see the students apply the knowledge they learned in the classroom. He's happy to see such a large, enthusiastic team this year. He said, "this activity really makes a difference in the kids’ attitudes and lives." Mr. Breese will volunteer again next year.
Diane DiGiacomandrea (Mrs.D) is also a very helpful mentor for Team 578. She is ca teacher in the Victor School District. She has helped the team in administrative tasks such as the student training/team culture and organization handbook. She has extensively supported the initiation of a new "student driven team". And she has helped provide instruction of organizational development to returning members of the team. Mrs.D decided to join our team because of FIRST's philosophy. The one thing she liked the most about Team 578 this year was how the team became even more student driven than it was last year. She also wanted to mention that our new team members are taking on responsibilities that many adults never believed students could. "Kudos to all the new members for jumping in and always doing their best! What a great team! Go Blue Lightening". Unfortunately Diane DiGiacomandrea will not be with Team 578 next year, but she will still be competing in the FIRST competition by helping the Victor School District join in on the fun. We will miss her here at Team 578. 
Nanette Domanti is a Financial Planner and Tax Preparer who was kind enough to lend her time to the team. She has helped Team 578 prepare for traveling and also the younger kids in the FIRST Lego League. After going to her first FIRST regional competition, she wanted to be a greater part of the program. She also volunteered to help with the Spaghetti Dinner for Team 578 four years ago. The thing she likes about Team 578 this year is that the students are taking greater responsibility for making Team 578 a success. "As with any organization its success is a direct result of the efforts that are put in by its members. Whether it is leading a team or mentoring younger students in the Lego League or building a new cart or even developing a website, the things that have been on the drawing board for years are finally being implemented. It is wonderful to see", she said. She also wanted to mention that she is amazed by the concept that FIRST has conceived to inspire our talented youth to explore their interests in science and technology. It's been her pleasure to get to know the students that have been involved in the program for years. Her greatest pleasure has been to attend functions where many of these students have been recognized for their accomplishments and hard work.
Mr. Domanti helped us in many ways - field construction, playing strategy, materials sourcing and robot transportation, and overall general support mentoring whenever additional help was needed. He is the Director of Human Resources of a large Law Firm. He volunteered for Team 578 because of his interest in mechanics and electronics. Mr. Domanti said, "Robotics provides an opportunity for me to spend time with my son and other young people in an area where I have both an interest and expertise. It gives me a chance to teach, learn and share experiences with a great group of people." 
Mr.Bartyzel is a Pharmacist at Eckerd Drugs. He helped mentor the Spirit and Field Construction teams. He also helped explain the operation of each of the different tools and how to use tool safely. He joined Team 578 in 2003 - "After seeing the energy, excitement, and enthusiasm of the students and the pride on the faces of the mentors in seeing their students become gracious professionals". He decided FIRST was an organization that would benefit both the students and the mentors. The thing he liked about the team this year was how the team evolved into more of a "student" driven organization that relies on engineering and mentor involvement for support. He also wanted to mention that he was a regional referee for many events including...
Another of our honorable mentors is Rich Young. He is a Mechanical Engineer. He volunteered because his son joined, and also because of the objectives of the FIRST organization. He has helped the Power Train group. He likes Team 578 because of its diversity, good focus, and its team members. He also mentioned that he would volunteer next year. 
Mr. Linford is a commecialization excellence manager at Kodak. He has worked at kodak for the past 38 years and has been involved in the commecialization of many Kodak products including cameras, projectors, photo finishing equipment, and now digitial imaging equipment mainly from a quality assurance and reliability perspective. He has been very fortunate to have able to apply his skills to high and low volume products from early design, through product testing, to delivery to the customer, and then evaluation of field performance.
Mrs. Bone is a Home Maker that has helped mentor the Spirit/Media Team. She helped the spirit/media team find ways to unite the rest of the team. She first decided to join the team after attending the competition for the first time last year. She saw how much fun the team had cheering each other on. And she saw a need for someone to help pull the team together and to help us be more visible at the competition. She believe that if we have better visibility, we will have better alliances with other teams. The thing Mrs.Bone liked about Team 578 the most this year was the sense of team work! She liked how everyone worked together to accomplish the goals of the team. She really thinks all the subteams have done a great job.