Pascack Pi-oneers [Team 1676]

Team 1676 is very grateful for the endless support of their mentors, parents, friends, and family. Proving the team saying, “Once a Pi-oneer, always a Pi-oneer,” our mentors are not only our teachers, but also parents of team members and alumni. We also have mentors from the local business community who caught “FIRST Fever” and continue to mentor the team year-after-year.

Our Mentors:

Kevin Killian (Head Coach):

• Mr. Killian has been a coach on the team for 6 years; this is his second year as head coach. He has been teaching math at Pascack Hills for the past seven years, but before his teaching career, Mr. Killian was an engineer for 19 years in the fields of satellite navigation and fiber-optic communications. He worked for Allied Signal Aerospace Company and Corning Incorporated. Mr. Killian is the holder of six US patents.

Bill Giraud:

• Mr. Giraud is the mechanical sub-team mentor. He teaches Engineering in the Pascack Valley Regional High School District. Before joining the Pi-oneers, he was head coach for Team 637. This is his 2nd year on Team 1676 and 6th year as an FRC coach. Prior to teaching, Mr. Giraud worked in the automotive industry as a mechanical engineer and previously as a Nuclear Engineer on a fast attack submarine in the Navy.

James (Doc) Whitfield:

• This is Dr. Whitfield’s rookie year with the team as the non-tech sub-team mentor. He has been with the Pascack Valley Regional High School district for five years teaching Biology, Anatomy, and Physiology. Prior to coming to our district, he was teaching in college and in medical schools; he has a PhD in Pathology.

Chris Nilsen:

• This is  Mr. Nilsen’s rookie year on the team, mentoring the integration and testing sub-team. He has been teaching Chemistry at Pascack Valley High School for two years. Before his teaching career, he spent 10 yrs at Bristol-Myers Squibb & Johnson and Johnson as a chemical engineer working in their pharmaceutical group designing processes to make experimental drugs. Mr. Nilsen is the holder of one US patent and has nine other US patents pending.

Don Rotolo

• Mr. Rotolo has been the electrical sub-team mentor since the inception of Team 1676. As a long time Mercedes-Benz employee, he became one of the original mentors when Mercedes-Benz first sponsored the team. Mr. Rotolo is well known through Chief Delphi having posted 2,600 times since he first joined the site in January 2005.

Jack Teadore:

• Mr. Teadore mentors the programming sub-team. This is his 2nd year on the team, however he was involved in FIRST Lego League in the district for several years. Mr. Teadore owns a computer consulting company and builds systems and small networks for businesses. Robotics was one of his hobbies in the past, leading him to discover the Pi-oneers.

James Wagner:

• Mr. Wagner attended Pascack Panda-monium two years ago at Pascack Hills High school, an off-season event hosted by The Pascack Pi-oneers. Ever since his introduction to Team 1676, he has mentored the programming sub-team. He was a friend of Mr. Killian and had always been interested in robotics. Mr. Killian and Mr. Wagner had been previously involved in the aerospace industry together. They worked on various control systems for satellites, avionics, rockets, and varying high performance control systems.

Steve Mertz:

• Mr. Mertz has mentored the integration and testing sub-team for the last two years. Mr. Mertz is the Regional Manager for Xerox Global Services. He has a background in electro-mechanical technology, business management, and is a certified technical trainer. Mr. Mertz has a daughter who is a four year member on the team.

Nina Bai:

• Mrs. Bai has been a part of the team for the past two years as the mentor for the programming and info-tech sub-teams. Mrs. Bai is the  manager of the Technical Development at KPMG. Before coming to KPMG in 2006, she spent over 20 years developing software for pharmaceutical analytical instruments companies, including Thermo Fisher Scientific, Beckman Coulter, EDAX International and Applied BioSystems. She read about the Pascack Pi-oneers in Community Life and was introduced to the team at the Pascack Valley Orientation night for eighth graders. Mrs. Bai has worked with both the programming sub-team and the info-tech sub-team developing the scouting software.

Joe Pantalone:

• Mr. Joseph Pantalone is a sales engineer for one of The Pioneers’ sponsors, Alcan Baltek.  He is an expert in the field of composite materials, specializing in foam core and balsa core fiberglass-reinforced structural members.  He has mentored the Pi-oneers for three years as part of the Mechanical Engineering subteam.  He trains the novice mechanical group members during our PiTech academy.  In 2009, he guided students to design our moon rock-gobbling “shepherd,” and in 2010 his team designed our lifting hook delivery apparatus.  Joe is the proud parent of a Pi-oneer alumnus and has stayed with the team after his daughter’s graduation.

Lisa Ruggieri:

• Mrs. Ruggieri has been on  the team for 6 years as a mentor for the non-tech sub-team. She began as a parent when her son was an original team member. Mrs. Ruggieri started the Pascack Pi-oneer Parents Assocation, and is currently the Vice President. She also is the liaison between Team 1676 and the FIRST LEGO League Teams that the Pi-oneers mentor in the district.

Linda DelSanto:

• Mrs. DelSanto is a mentor for the non-tech sub-team. She has been with the team for three years and for the past two years she has been the President of the Pascack Pi-oneers Parents Association. She also is the team travel coordinator and has a son on the team.

Sue Logan:

• Ms. Logan is a non-tech mentor and has been on the team for the past two years. She is responisble for coordinating team meals during build season, as well as coordinating team photography. She has twin sons on the team.