Our Coaches
Mike Corsetto
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Brook Ostrom
Lead Mentor / business and media
Brook Ostrom has mentored our team since 2014 and has more than 35 years of experience in public relations, marketing and graphic design, and writing and editing for a variety of publications. He graduated from UC Davis with a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics and Business Management. He started mentoring as a parent and has continued to expand his involvement with the team in retirement. For Brook, it's an opportunity to work with students to help build their writing and communication skills using a variety of media and platforms.
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Steve Harvey
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Kanwardeep Singh
lead teacher
Kanwardeep Singh began mentoring Citrus Circuits in 2021. She is the Advanced Robotics teacher at Davis Senior High School and teaches Multimedia, Robotics, and Computer Science at Holmes Junior High. She received her bachelor's and master’s in Education from UC Davis. Kanwar’s interest in programming began when she worked in a UC Davis research lab affiliated with the MIND Institute. She pursued her interest in programming by teaching a Robotics and Coding class at Holmes Junior High School.
Hardware
Jennifer BullockusJennifer Bullockus joined our team in the offseason of 2019 as a Hardware Design mentor. Jennifer’s initial encounter with FIRST was through her brother, who had been the Head Strategist on team 5199 Robot Dolphins From Outer Space. She has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from UC Davis with an emphasis on material sciences and mechanical design. For Jennifer, Citrus Circuits is an opportunity to help students with the knowledge she acquired in college and mediate the engineering mentors and the students. She looks forward to seeing the creativity of the students and helping them continue to excel at Championships.
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Matt golman |
Avery Phimmasehn |
Payton Wong |
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Matt Golman has mentored our team since 2022. Prior to joining 1678, he was a student and later a mentor for Team 2102. He graduated from Lafayette College with bachelor's degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Studio Art, and is now a mechanical engineer at Advanced Farm Technologies designing autonomous fruit harvesters. On the team he does design training, CAD reviews, and prototype testing, and enjoys watching students grow in confidence and competence as they advance through the team.
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Avery is a hardware mentor who joined the team as a student in 2014 and began mentoring fall 2022. He graduated from San Diego State University with a bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Avery works at Advanced Farm Technologies in Davis as a mechanical engineer. He enjoys seeing the creativity that the students bring to the team and wants to help students gain new and meaningful experiences through their time in FIRST.
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Payton joined our team in the summer of 2021 and was a mentor for Team 846, The Funky Monkeys, for over 18 years. He graduated San Jose State University with a Baccalaureate in Nursing and is a retired critical care trauma nurse and worked in organ donation most of his career. Prior to his 2nd career in nursing, Payton was (and still is) a R&D machinist with over 30 years of machining experience in the medical device, aerospace, thermoforming and tech industries. He enjoys teaching others how to "fish" by sharing his manufacturing experience, and guiding the students in safe and efficient methods of machining. Payton also encourages students to enhance their critical thinking and communication skills.
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Software
steve cohanSteve Cohan began mentoring in 2022 after retiring from a 35 year career in robotics and mechatronic systems. He has worked in domains such as aerospace, nuclear, surgical robotics, and most recently subsea robotics, where his last position was Vice President of Product Development at TechnipFMC Schilling Robotics in Davis. Steve is a strong believer in mechatronic design and implementation, in which the mechanical, electrical, and software disciplines develop concepts, design, test and iterate together. This approach helps teams overcome siloed thinking and gain common, in depth understanding of the solutions they create. He hopes to help the team experience working in this way during this first experience in FIRST mentoring.
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James DeaconJames Deacon began mentoring in 2024 after learning about the team from his colleague Mike Corsetto. He graduated from Caltech with a BS in Computer Science, a BS in Mechanical Engineering, and a MS in Electrical Engineering. James has been passionate about robotics from a very young age. He was the software lead of an FLL team that placed second in California, a member of the Caltech Robotics Team for 5 years at Caltech making autonomous submarines, and has worked as a Robotics Software Engineer focusing on controls and Behaviors for Advanced Farm since 2020. James is coaching the Software Robot subteam and hopes to bring his experience with autonomous decision making to Citrus.
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Austin HaddoxAustin Haddox joined the team during the 2018 offseason as a Strategy and Hardware mentor. He has had experience at team 2085 RoboDogs for two years, and is a FIRST alumni of the same team. He has an Associate's Degree in General Mathematics and a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from Solano Community College. He also works as a data analyst for an insurance company. He joined the team to learn from the mentors of 1678 and to hopefully apply what he learns to his own team when he moves.
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Richard mccannRichard McCann has mentored both the Software Scouting and Business and Media subteams since 2011. He’s a resource economist with over 30 years of experience and currently does statistical analysis and strategic planning, as well as cost accounting. He attended UC Berkeley for his Bachelor of Science in Political Economy of Natural Resources and Doctorate in Agricultural and Resource Economics and University of Michigan for a Master of Public Policy. Richard joined after his son joined the team as a senior and originally planned to work solely with fundraising. He grew interested in the scouting aspect of the team during the season and has continued to mentor both subteams since.
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Business and media
Sangho ByunSangho Byun started mentoring our team in 2024 as a parent of two members. He graduated from University of Pennsylvania with dual degrees in engineering and business, and brings decades of experience leading teams and solving problems at enterprise software companies and management consultancies. Sang loves coaching the Business and Media subteam because of the wide variety of tasks and challenges, ranging from logistics/process to artistic/creative.
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Jackson DurhamJackson was on the team from offseason of 2013 till 2016. He started mentoring the team in 2022. He has an A.A in photography. With this, he freelances for various companies. In 2017 he also started pursuing videography with his photography skills, and also works at a prototyping incubator at Sacramento city college called the maker space. His goal is to help people learn media and how FRC Games work.
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OUtreach
Kristine HarveyKristine Harvey has been on the team since 2014 when we presented our first Chairman’s submission. She’s been a French teacher for 27 years and has spread ideas of FIRST in multiple other countries, making contacts from around the world. She attended UC Davis and received a Bachelor of Arts in both French and English, as well as a Masters in Applied Linguistics. She joined the team to work with former students in a new capacity and to meet new students. She’s encouraged students to join the team for years and enjoys seeing where they end up on the team.
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David SolomonDavid Solomon joined the team as an outreach mentor during the 2018 offseason. He received a Bachelor of Art in Architecture from UC Berkeley in 1987, where he served as a teaching assistant in Structural Engineering for Architects. He taught STEM through an architects-in-schools program, and ran the outreach for an urban development and infrastructure program in Vientiane, Laos. He is currently a supervising architect for the State of California and has extensive experience in project management. His kids' involvement in DYR encouraged him to volunteer with 1678 to help with outreach activities.
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WorkShop
uwe RossbachUwe Rossbach joined the team as a mentor in 2025 after volunteering as a team parent. He retired from a career in computer services at UC Davis. Uwe enjoys woodworking and maintaining the field in top playing condition. He loves helping students discover new skills and grow their talents.
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Dan TolsonDan Tolson is a former General Contractor who rejoined the team in 2023. Dan’s primary role on the team is to facilitate and oversee the construction of the field elements and to make improvements to our facilities wherever and however he can. A graduate of DSHS, he is thrilled to be helping students solve problems, prototype designs, fab parts, learn new approaches to building things, and streamline their production processes.
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