Benjamin
With the Team: 2019-Present
A team captain, robot driver, Chairman’s presenter, human player, camp counsellor and more, what didn’t Benjamin do over his tenure on W.A.F.F.L.E.S.?
Benjamin took it upon himself to learn something new each season. He started with basic skills in SOLIDWORKS, and graduated to the student lead on critical subsystems such as the 2020 intake and 2022 conveyor system. One of the pioneers behind our team’s switch to swerve drive, in the 2021 off-season he designed, built, and programmed a chassis out of his garage! In 2022 and 2023, he was our lead software developer who spent countless hours debugging code to improve our performance.
As a new FRC alumnus, Benjamin has started a dual degree in Electrical Engineering and Physics at the University of Ottawa. As someone who has already volunteered at FLL Challenge and Explore events, he hopes to continue as a volunteer and get involved in his university’s FIRST alumni group.
2022 Graduates
Anica
With the Team: 2009-2022
Anica is one of our students who has been with W.A.F.F.L.E.S. since the beginning. Her earliest memories include assembling FLL field tables for our annual event, her FIRST journey started as a student on our FLL Explore teams, and she is one of our few graduates who we can truly call a ‘lifer’.
As part of our awards and outreach team, including several years as a Chairman’s award presenter, she was a vital part of our success in the judges room. A dedicated member of our scouting and strategy teams, we often relied on her astute observations to help with match planning and picklist meetings. We also loved her willingness to try new things, such as taking on the role of Electrical Student Lead in her Grade 12 year.
As a new FIRST alumnae, Anica plans to stay involved in FIRST as a volunteer, including positions she has previously taken such as an FLL Referee or as FRC Field Reset.
Ryan
With the Team: 2013-2018, 2020-2022
Another one of our students who started in FLL, Ryan’s passion focused on design and manufacturing during his time on the FRC team. A long stint on the team means he filled many different competition roles, including in the pits, as a scout, and behind the glass as a human player and operator.
In 2022, our first competition year back since the pandemic, he helped lead his subgroup to design our best climber yet which was a major contributor to our on-field success. He also played a large role in helping to integrate newer students into the design and manufacturing process.
Ryan’s skillset in design and manufacturing will be difficult to replace, which is why we are grateful that as he goes on to study Engineering with a co-op program at McMaster University, that he will continue to be involved as a remote mentor.
Duncan
With the Team: 2018-2022
Duncan, affectionately called ‘Little Duncan’ by team members despite his 6ft stature, brought enthusiasm and energy to our team that we could always rely on at competitions and at meetings.
From the beginning of his involvement on the team he worked on sponsor recruitment, helping to form connections with new in-kind sponsors that helped diversity our manufacturing resources. His ‘Safety Pets’ initiative as our Safety Captain always made the pit a fun place to come back to, covered in pictures of animals wearing PPE. He also was involved in robot design, presented for the Chairman’s award, and was one of our pit students and robot technician in the 2019 season, as well as being one of our camp counsellors for our annual summer camps.
Duncan will be going on to study Mechanical Engineering at the University of Ottawa, and staying connected with the FIRST Community as an event volunteer.
Gavin
With the Team: 2015-2022
While Gavin’s journey in first may have started as a younger sibling being brought to competitions, giving him the opportunity to be involved in our scouting team. He quickly fell in love with FRC and moved to the role of Lead Scout by the time he was in Grade 8, earlier than most students even get involved on the team.
Another one of our lead design students, his CAD skills rivalled many of our mentors. One of his projects included our 2022 shooter mechanism, and he was able to help make major improvements and revisions on a short timescale to replace the servo-based actuation to a rack & pinion system in only two weeks. An annual volunteer at our summer camps, one of our pit students, and our Lead Strategy Student in 2020, he wore many hats on his time with the team. He was also one of our 2021 Dean’s List nominees!
Gavin will be staying on-board with W.A.F.F.L.E.S. as a remote mentor for design review and scouting while he studies Engineering with a co-op at McMaster University.
2021 Graduates
Logan
With the Team: 2013-2023
Logan joined 4476 in 2013, but his journey with W.A.F.F.L.E.S. started much earlier (in 2008) as a student on our FLL Explore team. Behind the driver station was where Logan’s experience showed, as our primary driver since 2017, but his skillset did not stop there. With a passion for design, CAD, and manufacturing, he became the Student Design Lead in 2019, the same year in which W.A.F.F.L.E.S. nominated him for the prestigious Dean’s List award.
He has truly been involved of every aspect of our team, technical and beyond. Since the beginning Logan has been involved in developing new outreach opportunities has amassed an impressive resume of community outreach, along with countless hours volunteering at our Summer Camps, mentoring FLL and FRC teams, and volunteering at FIRST events.
As an integral part of our team for the last 7 years, we know there is no match for the shoes Logan will be leaving behind as he graduates, going on to study Mechanical Engineering Technology at Sheridan College.
Avalon
With the Team: 2020-2021
While Avalon was only a student on our team for 6 months, her contributions were critical to our successes in the 2021 season. Jumping straight into the deep end, she took on the role of Student Lead for Awards & Outreach and did an exceptional job, leading our team to our second ever Provincial Chairman’s Award and presenting at World Championships. She was also a fantastic role model for our FLL Challenge and Explore teams, mentoring them in project presentation and Core Values, among her many other talents.
She will be continuing her educational journey at Trent University, majoring in Psychology, with hopes to mentor remotely.
Matthew
With the Team: 2019-2021
After starting with W.A.F.F.L.E.S. as a FLL student, Matthew joined our FRC team in 2019. During build season he was involved in both design and manufacturing of the robots, along with being part of the business and award subteams. In 2020, Matthew was also our Lead Scout and Field Representative and was fundamental in helping our group of scouts transition to a brand-new electronic scouting system.
In Fall 2021, Matthew will start his studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, completing a dual degree in Computer Science and Business.
2020 Graduates
Duncan
With the Team: 2015-Present
Team captain, lead programmer, robot operator, camp counsellor, chairman’s presenter, human player, scout, was there anything that Duncan didn’t do? During his time on the team Duncan showed incredible growth and skill development that was critical to our success on and off the field, and for this was recognized as was one of our 2019 Dean’s List nominees.
While studying Computer Science at the University of Waterloo, he is staying involved with W.A.F.F.L.E.S. as one of our programming mentors from afar.
Samuel
With the Team: 2018-2020
During his time with W.A.F.F.L.E.S., Samuel was incredibly focused on helping us make the best robots possible as an active member of our manufacturing and design team. At competition he was an ambassador for our team as a member of the ‘topping crew’, where he would frequently spend time helping other teams remedy their issues at events to help them compete at their best.
He is now attending Queen’s University for Computer Engineering, and is staying involved in FIRST as a member of the Queen’s FIRST Alumni group and by volunteering at events.
2019 Graduates
Megan
With the Team: 2017-2019
Megan was our team captain and Dean’s List Nominee for the 2018-19 season, as a critical member of our outreach, business, and design teams. One of her passions was also safety, where she helped reinvigorate our safety program and trained new Safety Captains. Giving back to the team was one of her top priorities, so she worked for several years as a W.A.F.F.L.E.S. camp counsellor. For the 2018 and 2019 season she was also our Human Player, hustling to get the job done behind the glass and contribute to our success in each match.
Megan is now pursuing a degree in Computing from Trent University and is a founding member of the FIRST Alumni Chapter at Trent.
Echo
With the Team: 2018-2019
Despite only being with the team for two years, Echo was integral to our success as a Chairman’s Presenter and member of our awards and outreach team. At competition she was one of our ‘pit students’, where she was responsible for maintenance of the robot and interviewing with the judges. During the offseason, Echo would reliably attend outreach events and was fundamental in helping us recruit new sponsors for our program.
Echo is currently studying biomedical sciences at Trent University, where she is also part of their Varsity Women’s Rugby Team.
2018 Graduates
Aidan
With the Team: 2014-2018
Aidan joined the W.A.F.F.L.E.S. as a grade 8 student and was an avid technical member of the team, filling many different roles during his five years on the team. He was one of the lead design and mechanical students, taking leadership on the design of multiple mechanisms over the seasons and acting as technician in his senior year. He also was our human player, robot driver, and robot operator in different years as a student. He was nominated for the Dean’s List Award by team mentors for his dedication and technical leadership. Aidan is currently studying Mechatronics Engineering at the Univeristy of Waterloo.
Jeremy
With the Team: 2015-2020
Rarely does a team have a member so dedicated that they commute over an hour each way to attend a meeting. However, W.A.F.F.L.E.S. Community Robotics was lucky to find such a person in Jeremy. Jeremy was the lead electrical student on our team, championing almost all of the wiring himself. His knowledge in the field and his sense of humour made him a valuable member of our pit crew. In his senior year, he led the design of a modular “electrical box” to store and protect components. We are lucky to have him back as a mentor while he attends St. Lawrence College for Instrumentation and Control Engineering Technology.
2017 Graduates
Eden
With the Team: 2013-Present
Eden is an example of what all mentors hope to see our students become. As a student who truly embodies the values of FIRST, she deservedly was named a Dean’s List Finalist at the 2016 Greater Toronto East Regional in her grade 11 year. On her time on the FRC team, Eden would be a Chairman’s presenter, pilot (human player), safety captain, a member of the pit crew, and a scout.
She continues to be involved with W.A.F.F.L.E.S. as a mentor and summer camp director.
Josh
With the Team: 2015-2017
Josh was a member of our FIRST LEGO League Challenge team for three years before joining the W.A.F.F.L.E.S. as a grade 10 student. If you were looking for Josh, you could find him in the pit. He was the to-go person for information about any aspect of our team, and acted as one of our Chairman’s Award presenters for two years. His public speaking skills were not to be underrated and he was a valuable asset to the team during the build, off-season and competition season.
Josh completed his studies in Biomedical Sciences at Queen’s University and remains involved in FIRST by volunteering at local events.
Isabelle
With the Team: 2017-2019
A friendly face in the W.A.F.F.L.E.S. family, Isabelle was on the FRC team for two years and was a great contributor to scouting and fundraising initiatives. Her passion for science was not to be questioned and she was truly at home when at competition. She was also a volunteer at our annual Summer Camps.
Isabelle has also continued her involvement with us after graduating high school, helping out at some meetings and scouting at events. She attends Queen’s University for Applied Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering.
Noor
With the Team: 2017
Noor was one of our mechanical students during his time on our FRC team. Outgoing and outspoken, he was both valuable in making 4476 loud and spreading his contagious enthusiasm for robotics. His exuberant nature was particularly helpful for engaging young children at local outreach events.
He went on to study Chemical Engineering at the University of Ottawa.
2015 Graduates
Michael
With the Team: 2013-2017, 2020
With autonomous modes being so prevalent in FRC, we were lucky to have Michael on as one of our programmers during his time on the team. These programs allowed us to reach a higher level of success, especially when he was then behind the glass as our operator during competition.
After graduating he returned to mentor 4476 as a Computer Engineering at Queen’s University, along with attending FRC events as a volunteer. He now works for Honda as an Electrical Project Engineer.
2014 Graduates
Brennan
With the Team: 2013-Present
Brennan has been with W.A.F.F.L.E.S. Community Robotics since our inception in 2006 as an FLL team. Since then, FIRST has truly been his passion. Brennan was known for driving our robots with incredible finesse and intricate strategies to win even the toughest of matches. For all his contributions to our team and the FRC community, he was also recognized as a Dean’s List Finalist at the 2014 Greater Toronto East regional.
We are very glad that after attending Ontario Tech University, he has returned to Kingston! Brennan currently works for Croptracker Inc., while also being the W.A.F.F.L.E.S. President, our Lead FRC Mentor, and Drive Coach.
Kaley
With the Team: 2013-2015, 2020-present
Also one of the founding members of W.A.F.F.L.E.S, Kaley was one of the electrical leads and did an exceptional job representing the team while in the pit. She was a winner of the prestigious Dean’s List award in 2013 after being named as a finalist earlier that competition season.
While studying at the University of Waterloo for Systems Design Engineering, Kaley stayed actively involved with the team as a mentor from afar! She currently lives in Kingston and is a member of our team Advisory Council, as well as mentoring our FRC team.
Caetlynn
With the Team: 2013-2014
Bio coming soon!
2013 Graduates
Blake
With the Team: 2013
Blake joined us from Holy Cross High school to be a member of the team in his graduating year. During this time he was an active member of the build team and our human player come competition.
After graduating, Blake has gone on to study engineering at Carleton University and remained actively involved in FIRST by mentoring teams in Ottawa during his undergraduate program.
Ben
With the Team: 2013
Typically in a rookie year, FRC teams have difficulty obtaining quality scouting data. Luckily for us, Ben was there to write down team statistics fast and furiously during competition to give us data to send us to semi-finals as the captain of an alliance at our first competition!
Ben continued his passion for STEM as an engineering student at Queen’s University.