The 2019-2020 Team
The competition team of the 2019-2020 team was comprised of FSU Panama City. The members are as follows:
Team Advisors
Dr. Damien Dunlap | Team Advisor | FSU PC Mechanical Engineering Faculty
Dr. Joshua Weaver | Technical Advisor | FSU PC Engineering Adjunct Professor
Seminole Coast Team Lead
Toni Weaver | Mom | FSU PC | Mechanical Engineering
“Last year I was team lead for the 2018-2019 RoboBoat team and I am the team lead this year. My interests in engineering vary, but I am most interested in materials, robotics and project management. Most of my contributions to the team focus on the latter interest. As team lead, it is my job to keep lines of communication open and keep everyone focused on the correct goals.”
Boat Design and Manufacturing Team
Brandon Bascetta | Mechanical Design Lead | FSU PC | Mechanical Engineering
“I am a local of Panama City. I graduated from Mosley High School in 2016. I assisted last year as the Boat Operator and one of the co-leads for software development while primarily focused on image and Lidar processing. This year I am continuing as the Boat Operator but am making a switch to Software Liaison and Mechanical Design Lead. As Software Liaison, I am working close to the software development team to make sure the hardware integration of sensors on the physical boat itself is functioning properly. As Mechanical Design Lead I am also in charge of producing the SolidWorks parts as well as manufacturing drawings.”
Courtney Cumberland | Boat Design | FSU PC | Mechanical Engineering
“I am a Panama City local who enjoys fishing, diving and sailboat racing. On the RoboBoat team I am working on the design, material selection and manufacturing of the boat.”
Marketing and Fundraising Team
Marshall Sowell | Marketing and Fundraising Lead | FSU PC | Electrical Engineering
Tasneem Salman | Fundraising | FSU PC | Graduate Electrical Engineering
Carolynn Cobb | Media Lead | FSU PC | Business Administration
“I’m a local of Panama City. After graduating from Bay High, I earned my A.A. at Gulf Coast State College in 2018. At FSU PC, I study business, but my heart has always been in graphic designing. I joined RoboBoat to help with designing the SPEAR website.”
Power Team
Marshall Sowell | Power & Electronics Lead | FSU PC | Electrical Engineering
“I am a local to Panama City. I grew up in the Sandhills, and before Hurricane Michael, I lived in Lynn Haven. I graduated from Bozeman High School, and came to FSU Panama City right afterward to study Electrical Engineering.
“On the 2020 RoboBoat team, I am the power coordinator for the team which includes ensuring the entire system is able to turn on, is safe for everyone to touch and use.
“When I’m not studying or working in the boat, I enjoy playing piano, doing some writing, hanging out with friends and family, or watching some Netflix of Hulu shows.”
David Trexler | FSU PC | Electrical Engineering
“I have been a Panama City native my whole life and graduated from Mosley High School in 2009. I will be mainly assisting the power team and will also be helping design the casing for the power supply for RoboBoat this year. I will be applying for a job at the Naval Surface Warfare Center – Panama City Division and will hopefully have a job offer lined up by the time I graduate after the Summer (2020) semester. Outside of engineering, my interests include offshore fishing, baseball, and college football.”
Jacob Grice | FSU PC | Electrical Engineering
“My name is Jacob Grice and I am currently a freshman at FSU-PC working on my major’s prerequisites. I was born in Texas and grew up in Alabama and recently moved down here to finish high school. My interests are hardware in Electrical Engineering. My position in RoboBoat is to help with the hardware when I can and also learn how they are setting up the craft.”
Madison Penney | FSU PC | Electrical Engineering
“I was born in Nevada, but I grew up in Georgia. I moved to Florida shortly after graduating from high school. I have always loved anything to do with math and eventually became interested in electrical engineering. My role for RoboBoat is to help with hardware and wiring.”
Peter Oakes | FSU PC | Electrical Engineering
“Being an electrical engineer, my focus on the RoboBoat team has included a few roles, including working on hardware and wiring, some software implementation, and computer vision.”
Raneem Salman | FSU PC | Electrical Engineering
Zachary Trotman | FSU PC | Electrical Engineering
“I grew up in Marianna, Fl, and I am currently pursuing a degree in Electrical Engineering.
“Early on in my college career, I planned on becoming either a nurse or a surgeon. However, I found engineering to be a more desirable job. I quickly learned that each discipline of engineering is incredibly versatile, but I found electrical engineering to be the most interesting to me.
“Regarding the RoboBoat team, I work with the Power team to help with the construction and wiring of the boat itself. I am excited to be learning alongside this team, and I cant wait to see where this road leads.”
Safety Team
Ryan Tracy | Safety Officer | FSU PC | Electrical Engineering
“My name is Ryan Tracy and I am currently an Electrical Engineering student at FSU. I grew up in the small town of Grand Ridge, Florida and graduated from Sneads High School. I started going to FSU Panama City after receiving my associates from Gulf Coast State College. I am currently living in and attending classes at the College of Engineering in Tallahassee.
“When Toni asked us to join this competition with her, I had no real interest in robotics. However, I join and took over the safety side of thing for the RoboBoat team in 2018-19. Going to the competition last year sparked my interest in robotics and it is now a field that I am considering going into after graduation.”
Software Team
Mark Hartzog | Software Co-Lead | FSU PC | Electrical Engineering
“I am really interested in robotics as a whole. Specifically, localization algorithms and control systems. This contributes heavily to my interests in the project as a whole. I am a software co-lead which I think allows me to really hone my skill towards my interests and allows me to explore and experiment with the skills that I hope to apply to my career one day. Besides this I am an avid musician and find myself playing the piano and writing music when I’m not trying to engineer robots.”
Michael Kirke | Software Co-Lead | FSU PC | Electrical Engineering
“My name is Michael Kirke and I am currently an Electrical Engineering major with a growing interest in pursuing Computer Engineering at the graduate level. Last year I was in charge of sensors and visual feedback on the RoboBoat team, and this year I am the electronics lead. I have been a Panama City resident since 2005, attending Deane Bozeman School up until 2016 when I graduated and was accepted into Florida State University. At Florida State University I have thrived in the opportunity-rich learning environment and I have been fortunate enough to be able to get involved in the Advanced Science Diving Program on campus. The ASDP has given me a huge appreciation for diving and marine technology, and even helped me to land an internship at Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City where I worked in a diving related area. I am currently slated to start working at NSWC Panama City this coming fall.”
Alex Bernstein | FSU PC | Computer Engineering
“I earned a degree in Public Relations from UF in 2014 and then worked in Marketing for two years but was not passionate about the work. I am currently working towards a degree in Computer Engineering and am enjoying it. I’m excited to be working with SPEAR and the RoboBoat project in order to to gain more hands-on experience with real-world engineering applications, as well as to collaborate and work alongside other uniquely talented students.”
Baeden Warnick | FSU PC | Computer Science
“Having lived in Panama City my entire life, graduating from Rutherford High School as well as GCSC, I am happy to be a member of FSU PC. I am a senior computer science student, with hopes of pursuing graduate school after this final semester to focus on advanced AI. I am joining RoboBoat this year to help with as much software development as I can, but to mainly focus on tasks related to computer vision.”
Calen Sims | FSU PC | Computer Engineering
“Hey everyone! My name is Calen Sims, a Junior CpE student at FSU PC. I graduated from Marianna High in 2018, got my AA from Chipola College in 2019, and plan to graduate again in 2021. Its been a busy few years! I’ve had one parent in Marianna, FL and one in Lynn Haven since 2015, so I try claim to be a local.
“I’ve worked on robotics with VeX and SeaPerch throughout high school, placing 4th alliance in state with VeX, and am currently working in my field as an intern.”
Peter Oakes | FSU PC | Electrical Engineering
Keegan Lawley | FSU PC | Computer Science
“I am a new addition to the 2020 team and I am excited to be a part of such an interesting challenge. My focus has been mostly on front-end development for apps and websites so this was a step out of my comfort zone which I enjoyed. Stepping in here and there to help the two software leads Mark Hartzog and Micheal Kirke was where my interest for RoboBoat peaked. I saw it as a way to solve these interesting problems and get the chance to work with other hard working, like-minded individuals. My focus for the software team will be code collaboration and making the code maintainable and stable. When I am not programming I like to hangout with my friends, watch movies.”