G-Force Robotics is a second year FIRST Robotics Competition team comprised of young women in grades 9-12 with their coaches and mentors. We are excited to introduce you to our current 2023-2024 season members:
Payton A. - Student
Call Sign - "Chaos"
Payton is a 10th grader at Lachlan Christian Academy Homeschool. She has participated in GSK Science in the Summer and multiple science themed camps/classes throughout elementary and middle school. Payton has a deep love for animals so she has an active pet sitting business. She is also very active in her church youth group. Payton sees herself in the engineering field, but keeping her options open for the future.
Shelby A. - Student
Call Sign - "Hollywood"
Shelby is an 11th grader at the Anderson Academy of Education Homeschool. Shelby has been active in 4-H for over six years and currently serves as the County Council Vice President. Her other interests include studying Seidokan karate, volleyball, learning the violin, and singing on her youth praise team. She is also a Girl-Scout and enjoys volunteering with the American Red-Cross, NC Prevent Blindness, and looks forward to teaching clogging and praise dance every summer. Shelby sees a future in forensic science or engineering.
Angelina C. - Student
Call Sign - "Wings"
Angelina is an 11th grader at Corinth Holders High School. She took STEM classes when she was younger that sparked an interest in design and build, and she has worked with tools through past experiences. This is her second time participating on a robotics team. Angelina is a member of her school’s band color guard. She is a counselor-in-training with the YMCA. She is interested in drama and wants to be a voiceover actress when she graduates.
Claire F. - Student
Call Sign - "Chill"
Claire is a 10th grader at Sacred Heart Academy Homeschool. This past season, she was the team Safety Captain and a member of the build team. She enjoys the mechanical challenge of robotics, as well as engaging with the community through outreach, especially inspiring young girls to pursue STEM. When she is not representing G-Force, Claire can be found at the dance studio. In addition to dancing contemporary, ballet, and jazz, she volunteers as an assistant teacher for younger dancers. She loves to read a good book when she has time away from her busy schedule. Claire sees her future in engineering, possibly studying aerospace engineering.
Madeline G. - Student
Call Sign - "Queue"
Madeline is an 11th grader at Johnston County Early College Academy. She had a robotics class in middle school, but has expanded her engineering knowledge being part of JCECA's STEM track. In her downtime, Madeline enjoys baking, arts & crafts and playing piano. Since 5th grade, she has wanted to be an architect. Her goal is to attend MIT or Cornell University to major in architecture. She's looking forward to helping the team in the engineering process and with 3D printing.
Sloan M. - Student
Call Sign - "Boo"
Sloan is a 10th grader at Clayton High School in Clayton, NC. Sloan has previous FIRST experience as a member of FIRST Lego League and FIRST Robotics Competition teams. She was a founding member of the only all-girl FLL team in Johnston County. Sloan serves on G-Force’s mechanical and drive teams. While not doing robotics Sloan runs cross country and winter track, and is the treasurer/event coordinator for her school's Computer Science & Engineering Club. When she graduates she wants to study computer science with a concentration in robotics, AI or gaming.
Sydney M. - Student
Call Sign - "Enforcer"
Sydney is an 11th grader at Neuse Charter School in Smithfield, NC. Sydney has previous FIRST experience as a member of FIRST Lego League and FIRST Robotics Competition teams. She was a founding member of the only all-girl FLL team in Johnston County. Sydney serves on G-Force’s marketing team. While not doing robotics Sydney is a competitive cheerleader and volunteers with Marbles Children’s Museum. When she graduates she wants to study to be an athletic trainer.
Kaitlyn N. - Student
Call Sign - "Pounder"
Kaitlyn is an 11th grader at Johnston County Early College Academy in Smithfield, NC. Kaitlyn has previous FIRST experience as a member of FIRST Lego League and FIRST Robotics Competition teams. She was a founding member of the only all-girl FLL team in Johnston County. Kaitlyn serves on G-Force’s programming and drive teams. While not doing robotics, Kaitlyn plays basketball and is a member of her school’s engineering club. When she graduates, she wants to study engineering.
Carolyn Q. - Student
Call Sign - Pending
Carolyn is a 12th grader at Johnston County Early College Academy in the STEM pathway. She is a math tutor in the tutoring guild, a member of the math team, a peer mentor, and a member of InterACT, a club focused on community service. She is also president of SPEAK (Student's Participating, Engaging, and Acquiring Knowledge), JCC's communications club. In her free time, she likes to fly RC planes as a member of the Johnston County Aeromodeling Club and play the violin and piano. Through her love for the skies, Carolyn hopes to apply her experiences to aerospace engineering once she graduates.
Elle S. - Student
Call Sign - Pending
Elle is an 11th grader at Smithfield-Selma High School. She has previous FIRST Robotics Competition experience and is a member of the build team. At school, Elle is in the International Baccalaureate Program, a captain in her school’s Fire Academy, as well as a member of the SSS Marching Band. In her free time she can be found ice skating, cooking, or working on her car. She hopes to study mechanical engineering and/or engineering physics and work in the racecar industry one day.
Allison V. - Student
Call Sign - "Credits"
Allison is a 12th grader at Johnston County’s Early College Academy. She is very active in her school serving on the tutoring guild, interACT club focusing on volunteer work, and serving as a peer mentor. She is also part of the school’s engineering club. Allison is active with her church and has been part of several mission trips. She enjoys coding and has taken classes with Girls Who Code learning about various coding languages. She has taken part in Coding for Change taking an introduction to Python course. As she gets closer to graduation she sees herself working as a mechanical or biomedical engineer, but she could also see herself pursuing a degree in computer science.
Allison W. - Student
Call Sign - "Knot"
Allie is a 10th grader at Williams Christian Academy. While this is her first year in robotics, Allie has competed in Science Olympiad and has experience with Scratch and website coding. She volunteers with Brown Bag Ministry and spent time volunteering at Arlington National Cemetery. Outside of school Allie enjoys the outdoors and camping with her family. One day she hopes to major in mathematics and minor in psychology at an Ivy League university.
Craig Danby - Mentor
Call Sign - "Gru"
By day Craig aka "Gru" is a mild mannered mechanical design engineer, but by night... he's a 25-year Battlebots veteran. Danby has appeared on Discovery Channel's Battlebots since 2018 with his robots Predator, Foxtrot and Slammo! making the tournament in 2020. Danby has competed on the BBC's Robot Wars and has fought robots all over the world including China, Russia, all over Europe and Australia.
Kendra Gregg - Mentor
Call Sign - "Metric"
Kendra is a design engineer at Caterpillar, working on the Mini Hydraulic Excavator team. She graduated in 2015 from the University of Georgia with a B.S. is Agricultural Engineering, Structural Systems. Kendra is actively involved with United Way and enjoys working with organizations and universities for the advancement of girls in STEM.
Caleb Leslie - Mentor
Call Sign - "Dino"
Caleb is a systems engineer at Caterpillar; designing, integrating, and testing remote control systems on a variety of different machines. He graduated from the University of Alabama with a B.S and M.S in Electrical and Computer Engineering. During his time at the University of Alabama, he led the Alabama Astrobotics team to 2 National Championships in NASA's Robotic Mining Competition and competed in NASA's Sample Return Competition. When he's not tinkering with robots, Caleb enjoys getting lost while backpacking in the backcountry.
Spencer Davis - Mentor
Call Sign - "Who"
Spencer is a software engineer at Caterpillar, where he builds perception algorithms that enable construction and mining robots to safely navigate and interact with the world. He earned his B.S. in Computer Engineering at The University of Alabama. At school, he led the Alabama Astrobotics software team to compete in the NASA Robotic Mining Competition. In his free time, he enjoys backpacking, training martial arts, and tinkering with electronics.
John Rezak - Mentor
Call Sign - Pending
John is an Industrial Control Training Engineer for Schneider Electric, Training Distributors on Electrical Basics and the Basics of Motor
Control. He graduated from ITT Technical Institute, Liverpool NY, with an Associate Degree of Occupational Studies, Computer and Electronics Technology. After completing school, he began the role of industrial automation specification and design with focus on controls and sensing applications and integrated functional safety designs through distribution. In his down time, he enjoys travel, photography and music.
Callie Daniel - Mentor
Call Sign - Pending
Callie is a process engineer at Novo Nordisk on their automated insulin filling lines, combining all aspects of her experience in electrical, manufacturing and mechanical engineering. She graduated from North Carolina State University with her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Callie in an FRC alumni of Team 3215 where she was a member of the marketing and mechanical teams.
Austin Bordeaux - Mentor
Call Sign - Pending
Austin is in a design role for Siemen's Smart Infrastructure department designing medium voltage cabinets. Austin is a founding member of FRC Team 3506 Yeti, who competed at worlds during their rookie season in 2011. As an FRC alumni, he also supported the team as a mentor after graduating from North Carolina State University with his B.S in Mechanical Engineering.
Ellen McIsaac - Virtual Mentor
Call Sign - "Lighthouse"
Ellen leads the materials development labs for Lockheed Martin in Palmdale, California. She has a long history with FIRST Robotics. In high school, she joined her school's FRC team and discovered how much she enjoyed the engineering process. Today she serves as a mentor and district/state judge. She earned her BS from MIT in Material Science and Engineering, her MS in Mechanical Engineering from UConn, and her MS in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford. She advises the team remotely on the engineering process, mechanical issues and award packages, and helps with a few of the team's outreach projects. She is a SWE life member and is directly responsible for encouraging the team to form a SWENext club.
T'yanna Rouse - Virtual Mentor
Call Sign - "Cool Banana"
T’yanna is an external communications and media relations professional at Collins Aerospace, where she leads all external communications activities for diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) and corporate social responsibility (CSR). She received an undergraduate degree in Public Relations in 2019 from North Carolina A&T State University. She is currently in graduate school studying Media Management at Syracuse University. She’s also received two academic certifications from Yale University and Duke University in diversity & inclusion and business communications. In her free time, she enjoys doing ariel aerobics, synchronized roller skating and traveling the world with her family and friends. She is also an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. T’yanna assists the team with their business and marketing strategies to include social media and electronic mediums.
Lt. Col. Shannon Mann - Coach
Call Sign - "Paparazzi"
Shannon aka “Paparazzi” is a public affairs officer for Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base, Va. Shannon has served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve for 33 years and holds degrees in communications and marketing. She is a former FIRST Lego League coach and judge, and FIRST Robotics Competition mentor.
Leigh Dement - Coach
Call Sign - "Shifu"
Leigh Dement aka "Shifu" is a recent graduate of North Carolina State University with a Bachelors of Science in Chemistry with minors in both Forensic and Biological Sciences. Leigh is a 7-year veteran of FIRST programs through her experience as a FRC team captain and mentor, and FLL mentor and coach. Leigh is currently working as an Research Scientist at Focal Medical.
Airplane - Mascot
Call Sign - "Zoomie"
Zoomie is a 2022 model FIRST mascot. While Zoomie's cargo hold has an advanced handling system inspired by Collins Aerospace that helps move cargo from the main deck to the lower deck (she can usually be found hauling team stickers), her cockpit is purely inspired by Lockheed Martin’s fighter jet designs. Since becoming a DoDSTEM-sponsored team Zoomie has often had to be reminded that she indeed, is not, an F-22 Raptor or F-35 Lightning II. As Zoomie cannot be refueled mid-air (or even mid-match) she must make several landings for impromptu maintenance. Zoomie always travels with her trusty maintainer. While Zoomie doesn’t have a tail flash, her notable pink livery makes her identifiable to team G-Force Robotics. Built for fun, not for speed – Zoomie is a constant reminder to the team to #AimHigh!
