ALUMNI OUTCOMES
Choate Robotics graduates excel in their chosen fields. 100% of Advanced Robotics Concentration alumni attend four-year universities, including Stanford, Columbia, UChicago, USC, Georgetown, Yale, UPenn, Georgia Tech, and MIT. 96% of these students continue to study STEM after high school.
Alumni Profiles
These profiles feature admirable Choate Robotics alumni with notable achievements both at Choate and in life beyond. Read about where they are now, how Choate Robotics has contributed to their lives, and their most memorable Choate Robotics experiences!
Katrina Gonzalez ’17
Former VEX Team Captain
Katrina Gonzalez (Choate ‘17) attends Harvard College, studying physics and electrical engineering. She is interning this summer at Microsoft in Redmond as a software engineer for the Azure Data team. This past summer, she did research on campus with one of the research groups in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
“Choate Robotics really helped expose me to what engineering would be like, and it gave me some valuable skills to work off of. Since coming to Harvard, I’ve been a part of the Harvard Undergraduate Robotics Club (HURC; link here: https://harvardrobotics.com/). I was the project manager of our now deprecated Mech Warfare team, and I’m the club co-president now. Most of my work has been in mechanical engineering, but I’ve also been pretty heavily involved on the programming side of the robots. Ultimately, Choate Robotics taught me how to think and make in an iterative, evidence based way, as well as how to effectively coordinate people and teams.
My most memorable Choate experience was definitely when we presented awards to Dr. Curtis during my senior year. Before we wrapped up our presentation, a few of the other team members actually took the mic to thank me for the work that I’d put in over the course of the year. It was really great to hear that the work that I’d put in had benefitted the team, and that the members had gotten something out of being on the team.”
Parth Mody ’19
Former FRC Team Captain
Parth Mody (Choate ‘19) is now at University of Pennsylvania, majoring in Bioengineering and intending to minor in Engineering Entrepreneurship. At UPenn, he is a member of the Pitch cohort of the Weiss Tech House, a student run hub of technological innovation – he helps organize, judge, and provide mentorship for pitch competitions throughout the year. He is also a member of the Penn Tech Review (PTR), an online tech and entrepreneurship journal, and is involved in PTR’s marketing; he is currently developing a podcast to interview entrepreneurs, founders, professors, and other members of the Penn community with inspiring profiles to go alongside PTR’s articles and news.
Parth says that being on the Choate Robotics Team helped develop his interest in the STEM field and contributed to his pursuing engineering and involvement in tech organizations in college. “And more importantly,” he says, “[from Choate Robotics,] I learned how to solve problems and work with others. Even though some of the things I’m currently doing, like mentoring startups in Weiss Pitch or with my marketing positions, aren’t directly related to robotics, they are all about trying to come up with innovative solutions to meet some goal or solve some problem. Being familiar with the iterative design approach I learned in robotics has helped me tremendously in these roles. At the same time, I’d say that at least half of everything I do right now is in collaboration with at least one other person, so I’m very grateful for the teamwork experience the robotics team has given me.
I think the most notable experience for me was the beginning of my sophomore year on the team. It was the first year that I was captaining one of Choate’s teams, and I just remember starting off knowing close to nothing about managing a team, building a robot from scratch, and preparing for competition, all things that a good captain should know. But I also remember spending so many hours in the lab during those first few weeks, working hard with my team and trying to soak up as much information as I could from the more experienced members in Choate Robotics at the time. I think the beginning of that season taught me most of what I know now about what makes a good mentor, leader, and teammate.”
Elise Hummel ’18
Former VEX Team Captain
Elise Hummel (Choate ‘18) is at Lafayette College pursuing a dual-degree BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering and AB International Studies with a Concentration in Spanish. She also studied abroad at the University of St. Louis in Madrid her sophomore year.
Looking back on discovering her passion through robotics at Choate, she says, “Choate Robotics definitely reinforced my degree path towards being an engineer, and living at the KEC helped me combine that passion for engineering with a more environmental focus.
My most notable Choate robotics experience was probably at New England’s my sophomore year, because that was the first time we qualified for worlds. The drive team that year was a mix of Katrina, Nan, Parth, and I, which was an amazing and supportive group to spend time with. The following year I remember we received an award (tbh I forget which one) at Worlds, and that was also memorable.
I also clearly remember moving the Intro to Robotics things out of the lab in St. John and into the Lanphier Center before it was officially open in the winter of my freshman year. I think that was the start of the shift in the robotics program that exists now (that year, the team had around 12 people, and our field was set up in the room where the VR things are now). It’s rewarding to look back at how much the program has grown since then, and to think that we played some small role in that.”
Zhi Wei Gan ’19
Former FRC Lead Programmer
Zhi Wei Gan (Choate ‘19) is a Computer Science major at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he also also an undergraduate researcher at the MIT Media Lab. On the Choate Robotics team, Zhi contributed as a lead programmer.
Zhi says that Choate Robotics has taught him how to work in a team. He also says his experience with coding on the team taught him how to write production quality code and the pitfalls of not doing so.
His most memorable Choate Robotics experience was when 7407 Wired Boars won the Highest Rookie Seed award at the FRC New England Championship (2019).
Nandini Erodula ’18
Former VEX Team Captain
Nandini Erodula (Choate ‘18) is at Yale University, planning on majoring in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology, on the pre-med track.
About Choate Robotics, Nandini says: “The Robotics Team truly shaped my Choate experience and has contributed greatly to where I am now. Not only did I learn how to design and build robots for the VEX and then FIRST robotics competitions, the basics of programming, wiring, and game strategy, but I also found my passion for collaborating with people to innovate and design different projects.
My most notable Choate robotics experience was when I was a part of the group that qualified the robotics team for the Vex Robotics World Championship my sophomore year. It was the first the Choate team had ever gone to the Championship, and it was an incredible experience competing at such a high level and caliber with around 10,000 teams in all 50 states and around 30 countries. I had an amazing experience being a part of a large-scale international event.”
William wu ’19
Former VEX Team Member
William Wu (Choate ‘19) is studying electrical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. He worked at the System Theory Lab at WashU, and interned at DJI and Tencent in the summer.
Will says, “Choate Robotics helped the most when it comes to getting hands on experience and working with people. Working as a programmer my junior year really connected the abstract ideas such as PID to their application in robotics. The great experiences I had working as a member of Choate robotics sparked my interest in control theory, which is what I’m studying in college right now. On top of that, I made a really good friend, Brian, during my time on the team.
My last year on the team was my best year to look back to. My best takeaway from that year was good communication matters. I learned to be vocal about what I was working on and the challenges I faced. It was a shame to not make worlds as a team, but I enjoyed every minute of those Saturday nights in the lab.”
Mariam abuguri ’18
Former VEX Team Captain
Mariam Abugri (Choate ‘18) is currently at Johns Hopkins University pursuing a BS in mechanical engineering. At Johns Hopkins, she is a member of SAE Baja which designs, manufactures and tests an off-road vehicle to compete in competitions around the country, and a member of Theta Tau which is a co-ed engineering fraternity that is focused around brotherhood, service and professionalism. Mariam works part-time for a biomedical engineering startup that images mosquitoes for malaria research! She also still plays club volleyball at Hopkins, after playing on the volleyball team at Choate.
“Choate Robotics was the first place that I was truly introduced to the concept of the design process. While at Choate, I didn’t realize that engineering would be the specific path I ended up going down, but in hindsight, robotics is one of the most pivotal experiences that led to me pursuing mechanical engineering. Choate Robotics taught me how to voice my ideas, collaborate, compromise and commit to my decisions. Most importantly, Choate Robotics was the first place that I really considered engineering or robotics as a field I was capable of being a part of, and for that, I cannot thank the program enough.
My most notable Choate Robotics experience was the moment at the New England Championships when we realized that we had qualified two robots for the world championships, regardless of which teams won the next elimination round. While I was clearly excited that we would have the opportunity to go to Kentucky, that moment was the culmination of hours upon hours spent in the lab. Whether it was redesigning the lift or just switching out a burnt-out motor, all of the work that was put in by the team was a win not only for the subteams sending robots, but for the Choate Robotics program as a whole. At the end of the day, everything we had done would not have been possible without the guidance and support we offered each other.
Another experience that I encountered in Choate Robotics and during my time in undergrad now is that you will never get things right the first time. No matter how meticulous you are during concept development and prototyping, there is bound to be something you won’t account for. As one of my professors likes to say, “In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is.” Choate Robotics gave me the opportunity to lean into those opportunities to modify and test a design multiple times which helped me develop the drive to execute projects I am a part of today.”
Knute Broady ’19
Former 7407 Build Team Member
Knute is a student at Georgia Tech studying Mechanical Engineering. At Tech, he is very active on the robotics team, the Robojackets. More specifically, he is a part of the battlebots program (cool video of their robot: https://www.twitch.tv/robotconflicttwo/clip/StupidLitigiousChamoisArgieB8). They recently competed at a competition in Pennsylvania called Motorama.
Knute says: “Although what we do in Robojackets is pretty different from what I did at Choate, the design and collaboration skills I learned there have been extremely valuable. Learning how to be part of a team with many smart and talented individuals has been useful for far more than just robotics.
I think my favorite Choate robotics experience was seeing our FRC bot work effectively for the first time. It was such a big step to transition from VEX to FRC, and to prove that we could do it felt amazing. A close second was watching my pushbot, Push-E, almost qualify for Worlds in VEX!”
Peter DiNatale ’21
Former FRC Team Captain
Peter DiNatale (Choate ’21) is currently studying mechanical engineering at Northeastern University. At Northeastern, he enjoys electric racing, a competition he describes as similar to FRC. However, instead of building robotics, he and his team focuses on building an electric race car for a race in May. Peter uses his skills in CAD, CNC milling, electrical work, and team leadership for this competition, all of which he cites FRC for teaching him.
As Peter says regarding his experiences with Choate Robotics, “I think the team’s extensive resources and everyone’s collective drive to do well at competitions helped me explore my interests. There was always so much passion and knowledge that circulated the lab. It really made for an engaging learning environment. While it definitely got stressful at times, seeing others passionate about STEM really helped me push myself to learn more and try things that I wouldn’t have otherwise considered trying.”
His favorite team experience was not a massive win or award. “Very hard choice, but probably team dodgeball up in Maguire.” He also really enjoyed the VEX World Championship trip to Kentucky and the BattleCry FRC Competition at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Peter’s biggest takeaway from Choate Robotics is that “no one will ever be able to overemphasize how important it is for a design to be robust.”
“Everything you make needs to be robust!”
Irie Cooper ’20
Former FRC Team Captain
Irie Cooper (Choate ’20) is currently studying mechanical engineering at the University of Southern California. She says college is eventful but she loves studying engineering. At USC, she participates in research in the Valero Laboratory, which she had first worked in during her junior year at Choate. She is still pursuing the same project! Alongside her research, Irie also laser engraves skateboards in her free time and helps with USC’s Formula SAE racing team.
Irie describes her experience with Choate Robotics as “another building block to (her) interest in STEM.” She says, “I started off on an all-girls robotics team in middle school, so joining the co-ed Choate Robotics team was different for me. But so many males and females allowed me to be inspired to continue doing robotics and STEM in general: mainly Weston, Elise, Nan, Mariam, Katrina, Max and Parth. Being able to learn from them and see how they continued in their STEM career really inspired me to do the same.”
Her favorite memory of ARC is competition day. “Seeing Alex, Peter, and Declan drive was stressful and exciting. Seeing them do well was probably one of the best feelings.”
Irie’s biggest takeaway from Choate Robotics is to befriend as many engineers as possible. “They are genuinely the coolest, most passionate people you will ever meet!”