OUR MENTORS

Our Mentors are the greatest!

The ThunderChickens work hours upon hours for six weeks to build their robot in order to be ready for competition. In addition, many adult mentors from various industries volunteer their time to guide, teach and mentor the students during the build and competition season. We send out a big “Thank You” to them all!

We are extremely lucky to have the wealth of knowledge of three mentors that have been with the team since the beginning- Ron Arscheene, Mike Attan, and Bill Baedke.

Current Mentors

Ron Arscheene

FIRST Mentor – 21 Years

Teacher - Utica Community Schools

Mike Attan

FIRST Mentor – 20 Years

Teacher - Utica Community Schools

Bill Baedke

FIRST Mentor – 21 Years

Engineer (Retired) - Ford

Gary Yahr

FIRST Mentor – 13 Years

Flagstar Bank

Brynn Yahr

FIRST Mentor – 13 Years

Tony Moraccini

FIRST Mentor – 11 Years

Construction (Retired)

Jeff Kausch

FIRST Mentor – 16 Years

Program Mgr - Delphi

Julie Kausch

FIRST Mentor – 16 Years

Engineer

Kelly Kozlowski

FIRST Mentor – 9 Years

Writer

Jim Yaxley

FIRST Mentor – 16 Years

Engineer - Master Robotics

Curtis DeSaele

FIRST Mentor – 10 Years

Engineer - Waltonen Engineering

Nick Paterni

FIRST Mentor – 8 Years

Software Engineer - MotorCity Casino

Raju Mudunuri

FIRST Mentor – 3 Years

Engineer - Ford

Donovan Whitehead

FIRST Mentor – 6 Years

Engineer

ThunderChicken Alumni

Justin Schultz

FIRST Mentor – 6 Years

Engineer

ThunderChicken Alumni

Former Mentors

Bob Korson

FIRST Mentor – 20 Years

Engineer (Retired) - Ford Motor Company

Paul Copioli

FIRST Mentor

Championship Woodie Flowers Award Winner (2005)