About Degrees of Freedom

Si Se Puede Foundation (SSPF) was founded by Alberto L. Esparza in 1993, and became incorporated as a 501(c) 3, non-profit organization in 1998. In 2016, Si Se Puede Foundation founded Degrees of Freedom in Chandler, Arizona in 2016. Since then the robotics team has participated in 7 regional competitions, attended Houston Championships 3 years in a row, and won Rookie All-Star Award, Engineering Inspiration Award, and Chairmans Award in 2019 and 2022. More than just robots, Degrees of Freedom has made community service a top priority. Through workshops, summer camps, active mentorship, and much much more, Degrees of Freedom has been able to make a significant mark on the community.  

Quincy

Grade: 9

Years in FIRST: 1 (FRC) 

Interests: Robotics, D&D and Sewing 

Aspirations: "I hope to continue to work with DoF and STEM after I graduate." 

Hayden

Grade: 11

Years in FIRST: 1(FRC) 

Interests: Love from a mathematic point of view, philosophy and aerospace engineering

Aspirations: "I want to have a aerospace engineering company of my own before I’m 40 and becoming a better person than I was yesterday :)"

Josh

Grade: 10

Years in FIRST:

Interests:  Dancing, sports overall, hiking, traveling, gym, shopping, baking/cooking, running, ukulele, piano, helping others, teaching, swimming

Aspirations: Psychiatrist

Mason L. 

Grade: 9

Years in FIRST: 

Interests: sleeping, my podcast, hiking, going out, dancing

Aspirations: Psychologist

Jaxen 

Grade: 9 

Years in FIRST: 1 (FRC) 

Interests: Robotics, computers, engineering

Aspirations: "Mechanical engineer" 

Liz 

Grade: 9

Years in FIRST: 1 (FRC) 

Interests: Basketball, robotics, reading, drawing and playing video games with friends. 

Aspirations: "Currently I want to graduate high school with a 4.0 unweighted GPA, get into the best college I can full ride, graduate with a masters in an engineering field, and work as an engineer" 

Mason P. 

Grade: 9

Years in FIRST: 1 (FRC)

Interests: Pokemon, Robotics

Aspirations: Mechanical or Computer Engineer

Prith 

Grade: 9

Years in FIRST: 1 (FRC)

Interests: Arts & crafts, cybersecurity, music and writing

Aspirations: Pilot

Deshna

Grade: 9

Years in FIRST: 1 (FRC)

Interests: Programming, mechanical work

Aspirations: 

Years in FIRST: 4 (Mentor)

Interests: Robotics, hiking, ukulele, hackathons, capitol buildings, license plates 

Profession: Software Engineer at General Motors

Years in FIRST: 4 (Mentor)

Interests: Crafts, reading, traveling

Profession: Software Engineer at GM

Faridodin "Fredi" Lajvardi

Years in FIRST: 2 (Mentor)

Interests: All things science

Profession: Former educator, now extracurricular STEM educator 

Years in FIRST: 11 (Mentor)

Interests: Robotics, music, assistive technology, running 

Profession: Engineering lecturer at ASU

Sarah Parker 

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Years in FIRST: 

Interests: electronics, computers, Star Wars, finance, teaching, learning

Profession: Supply Chain Project Manager

Izzy Thalman 

Years in FIRST: 5 (Student) 6 (Mentor)

Interests: Robotics, working out, playing videogames 

Profession: Robotics engineering student at ASU

Grant Lesley 

Years in FIRST: 7 (Student) 4 (Mentor) 

Interests: Robotics, music, D&D 

Profession: Mechanical Engineering student @ ASU 

Juan  Palomino 

Years in FIRST: 3 (Student) 4 (Mentor)

Interests: Flying, board games, crypto, traveling

Profession: Software engineer

Bruce Kahn

Years in FIRST:  

Interests: Technology, making, magic, gaming 

Profession: Software engineer

Steve Forbes

Years in FIRST:  

Interests: Robots, puzzles of all kinds, paper crafting, legos, unicycling and juggling. 

Profession: "Manufacturing Engineering Technician" at Intel. I run around the factory and fix the machines when they break.

Ashley Faucher

Years in FIRST: 5 (Student) 1 (Mentor) 

Interests: Building, racing, videogames, dogs, makeup 

Profession: ME Student @ ASU, contract engineering for start-ups

Andrea Schoonover

Years in FIRST: 2

Interests: Astronomy, Space Robotics, Music, Plants

Andrew Fechter

Years in FIRST: 4 (Student) 4 (Mentor) 

Interests: Competitive robotics

Profession: Mechanical engineer

Romney Kellog

Years in FIRST: 5 (Student) 1 (Mentor)

Interests: Learning new things, spending time with friends and family, crafting, and adventuring in the outdoors

Profession: Graduate Research Assistant for the Laboratory of Energy And Power Solutions (LEAPS) at Arizona State University (ASU).

Glen Pohle

Years in FIRST: 1 (Mentor)

Interests: electronics, computers, Star Wars, finance, teaching, learning

Profession: Supply Chain Project Manager

Kylel Scott

Years in FIRST: 3 (Mentor)

Interests: Art, Robotics and AI

Profession: Robotics Student @ ASU, Graduate Research Assistant at ASU's Luminosity Labs, Intern at NASA Langley Research Center