Meet the Team
CENTERSTAGE
2023-2024
Jesse Sklar - Captain
Aug 2016: My first year at robotech, I worked on a Ev3 Mindstorms robot on the FLL Field Mission Mars. I won first place at Robotech, and completed most of the challenges.
Sep 2016: I continued working on mind-storms robots with legos for the next year, and worked on several past FLL fields.
Sep 2017: Now, I joined a Robotech FLL Team, where I practiced judging, and continued working on Lego Robots
Spring 2018: I advanced to VEX IQ, and competed with others at Robotech, placing second twice in a row at the different robotech competitons.
Spring 2019: I started working on the FTC Team at robotech learning how they build and function.
Sep 2019: I officially joined the FTC team for the Skystone season. We advanced to the state championship, however, it was cancelled due to COVID.
Sep 2020: I continued on the FTC team 17036 during the Ultimate Goal competition. We advanced to the state championship, and made it to the semi-finals. Throughout the season, I was taught CAD, and I learned how to operate the 3d Printer. Additionally, I took a class on Java at Robotech.
Sep 2021: I now became higher up in 17036, and worked mechanically on improving our Freight Frenzy robot, which again made it to the semi-finals of the State Championship. Additionally, I worked on a humanoid Robot project called TOBOR at robotech.
Spring 2022: I taught CAD and Mechanics at Robotech to many teenagers, and began working shifts at Robotech.
Sep 2022: I became Captain of 17036, and along with building a functional robot, I CADded the entire thing. Additionally, I joined my high school Vex robotics team 2616Knights at Cherry Hill East. I am primarily a builder on that team, but I am also trying to learn programming. In addition to these, I am mentoring another FTC team, 14498, on their building since they are a rookie team.
Neel Awsare - Captain
My name is Neel Awsare, and I am 17 years old. I attend Rancocas Valley Regional High School as a senior. At school, I am the president of the SNHS, president of the computer science club, co-captain of the FRC robotics team, secretary of the engineering club, and a member of the NHS and the MNHS. This year will be my sixth year in FTC, and I am currently the lead programmer and driver for the team. For my final year in FTC, I want to learn more about odometry, PIDs, motion profiling, and OpenCV computer vision. In the future, I want to study computer science and become a software engineer. I am especially interested in the new advancements in AI, which makes me interested in pursuing a job in AI. I’m excited to take CENTERSTAGE™ in this year’s upcoming season!
Jackson Beairsto - Mech
My name is Jackson Beairsto, I am 18 years old. I am a senior at Rancocas Valley Regional High School. I have been a part of Robotech since the sixth grade, starting with Vex IQ, and WRO. Since then I have joined the FTC team and this is my 3rd year with the team. Throughout my three years on the team I became proficient in building with GoBilda and REV parts, and I have become the team's human player. After I graduate high school I want to go to a college to study engineering or education. Outside of robotics I am interested in football, basketball and movies. This years challenge Centerstage is shaping up to be very exciting, and I will be locked in no matter what!
Isaiah Dupree - Mech
My name is Isaiah duPree. I am 17 years old and I am a senior at Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly, NJ. Outside of FTC, I am the president of my school’s Black Student Union, Editor in Chief of my school’s newspaper, a member of the school’s Thespian Society, NHS, engineering club and Spanish Honor Society. I also speak 3 languages. The 2023-24 season will be my 2nd year in FTC, and I will be our team’s operator. After college, I hope to go into a journalism career. I’m excited to take CENTERSTAGE™ in this year’s upcoming season!
Rohin Amaro - Mech
My name is Rohin Amaro. I am sixteen and I attend Cherry Hill High School East as a junior. I swim for the Cherry Hilll East swim team and sing for East Concert Choir. I also have been swimming for the Woodcrest Swim team for the past nine years and for Wahoos for 3 year. I play piano. I won first place at the VEX IQ Robotics Competition at Rosa in 2019 and best design in 2020 at Cherry Hill East. I am currently and have been a builder and designer on FTC 17036 Robotech Anomaly Team for the past two and half years. I am interested and want to learn more about mechanical engineering and computer science. I am fascinated how robots can improve society.
Zach Blackman - Mech
I am Zachary Blackman. I am 15 years old from Voorhees NJ and I started my robotics journey at the age of six. I go to Eastern Regional High School in Voorhees New Jersey. There I am on the Robotic club that competes in FRC, and I am a founding member/ the new president of the Aerospace Union club. At the age of six I found Robotech at a mall show and joined their young engineers class. In the following years I would move up to Lego and then Vex IQ to compete in their yearly games. Last year I was moved up to FTC where I learned what I would need to do to help the team in the future. I am excited or the next FTC season.
Risha Shukla - Programming
My name is Risha Shukla. I am 14 years old and a freshman at Cherokee High School. I am a programmer on 17036 and I was one last year. This is my second year on this team. My rookie season was when I was on the 14498 Robotech Warriors during the PowerPlay season. Outside of robotics I dance competitively, play tennis, perform in many musicals, and have been playing the violin for 7 years. This year I want to become a better and more experienced . I am super excited about this year's season Into the Deep!
Sachin Awsare - Mech
My name is Sachin Awsare and I am a builder on the FTC team. Some things I like to do outside of Robotics are go swimming and watch TV. This season is my second year on the team. I really enjoyed last year’s competition and I am hoping this year will be even better. I am looking forward to learning new things and competing in next year’s competition!
Claire Li - Programming
My name is Claire Li. I am 13 years old and am attending 8th grade at Rosa International Middle School. I am a programmer on 17036 and have had one year of FTC experience on the 14498 Warriors during the 2022-2023 Season. Outside of robotics, I am heavily involved in numerous extra-curriculars that span from various musical programs to long distance running. This year, I hope to become a more active and experienced programmer on the team, as well as hopefully organizing Outreach initiatives for 17036. Hoping for a successful and rewarding first year on 17036 Robotech Anomaly!
Chloe Brudette - Mech
My name is Chloe Burdette. I’m 13 going into 8th grade and I go to Marlton Middle school. Outside of robotics I participate in cross country and I’m new to violin. I’m currently a builder on the team. For the future, I am interested in the engineering field. I started doing FTC in 6th grade, last season was my first, and it was a good start. Although this year I hope to do better.
Rhea Arora - Programming
Hello, my name is Rhea Arora, I am 15 years old and I am a coder on team 17036. I have participated in FLL for three years and I was part of team 14498 last year. I also am on a team for FRC. Outside of robotics I play lacrosse, golf, I dance, and play tennis. My hobbies are baking/singing. This year I am hoping to experience more programming and improve my communication with the builders on my team.
Nathaniel Dickman - Mech
I am Nathaniel Dickmann, I am 13 years old and homeschooled. I am pretty new to FTC, this will be my first year doing FTC. This year I would like to learn more about the different parts of FTC. Learning how building and coding work, and also how the competitions work.
Katherine Gao - Programming
My name is Katherine Gao, I’m 12 years old and in 7th grade going into 8th, and I go to Rosa International Middle School. A few things I do out of school is play soccer on my FC team, play cello and piano, create art, and participate in many of my school’s activities. I was first introduced to FTC in 6th grade. At that time I was building VEX robots and coding them. This will be my second year doing FTC, last year’s season I was on 14498 and it went pretty well. This year I got moved to the 17036 team. I hope that this years season goes very well.
Sherwin - Mech
I’m Sherwin Joseph, a new member of the team, ready to immerse myself into the world of FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge). Although I am new to the team, I still try and find myself the best situations to contribute. I have always been interested in building things and a young child, I built so many different legos and assembled many other things. If anything was there to build, my interest would be piqued. As of right now, I just entered the big world of Cherokee high school, and I am exploring through the opportunities that the school offers. I always had an interest in athletics and I participate in track, and will soon be in the weight lifting club. Outside school, my athletic ability does not come to a cessation. I play tennis with my friends and family and play as RB (Right Back) on the Blue Balls U18 soccer team where we are currently undefeated.I also play the piano and love adventuring into new, difficult and challenging pieces. I have always loved learning new things and I feel that knowledge is a very valuable quality. That’s why I joined this team, to learn and pursue a new interest. I am very excited for more competitions for “Centerstage” and I happy to contribute as much as I can to the team!