About us team 7769

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FRC Team 7769: The Crew was founded in 2019 by Mr. Steve Smitka at the southeast campus of Oakland School Technical Campuses (OSTC-SE) in Royal Oak, Michigan, where he is a teacher in the Engineering/Robotics/Mechatronics program. OSTC-SE is a unique high school that partners with other schools in the area to offer students, (specifically juniors and seniors), the opportunity to get a head start and hands on experience for their career with programs like Machining, Computer Programming, and Entrepreneurship and Marketing.

 

The 2022 team consists of 14 mentors and 22 students who come from various programs offered at the campus. The majority of our students come from the Engineering/Robotics/Mechatronics program. We also have students from the Computer Programming and Cyber Security programs. All of our mentors work in STEM fields, such as robotics and automation, data analytics, and automotive electric powertrain manufacturing, and 13 mentors are FIRST alumni.

The team is divided up into 7 subgroups: chassis, collect/shoot, climb, programming, electrical, scouting, and business. Most of these subgroups are standard year to year (such as chassis and electrical) while other groups are unique to that year’s game (i.e. climb). Each subgroup is run by 1-2 mentors. Several mentors also float between subgroups depending on where they are needed, At the start of the season, students sign up for their 1st and 2nd choice subgroups, Students are typically assigned to a primary and a secondary subgroup, so that they can get a wider variety of experiences and to allow for flexibility throughout the season.