Our Team
Who We Are
We are the Del Norte FIRST Robotics Team Optix 3749. We spend the majority of our time competing in or preparing for the FIRST Robotics competition. We also host practice FIRST Lego League tournaments for local teams.
Our Mission
Our mission is to captivate and inspire students with STEM to create problem-solvers, team-players, and leaders.
Departments
We build strong student leaders in our community who emulate the FIRST Core Values. Our team follows a business model consisting of an executive board, president, and four VP's whom each preside over different subteams. Our leaders train their protégés to become leads next season and embrace Gracious Professionalism and Coopertition. Through hands-on experiences of 21st Century skills, we are training our students to become STEM leaders!
Mentors
Jimmy Grimes (2025 - Present)
Jeff Cox (2025 - Present)
Alexander Zhang (2025 - Present)
John Campillo (2011 - 2025)
President
Aysen Chong ('26)​
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As president, it's my job to be the face of Optix. I manage the ongoing tasks of each of the four departments, communicate with our parent group, and plan other social events for our club! It's my job to ensure that Optix operates smoothly throughout the year.
Build
Co-Vice President: Prithvi Saravanan ('27)
Co-Vice President: Tanay Paranjpe ('27)
Mechanical Lead: Aditi Karthik ('27)
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The Build Department uses power tools, assembles gearboxes, designs robots, and CAD our products.
Technology
Vice President: Neel Adem ('27)
Co-Software Lead: Aadi Bhat ('27)
Co-Software Lead: Dhyan Soni ('28)
Co-Electrical Lead: Alexander Garceau ('26)​
Co-Electrical Lead: Bryan Chen ('27)
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The Tech Department programs and wires the robot. They use industry-level control algorithms to plan and program the autonomous and teleoperated period.
Outreach
Vice President: Pranav Santhosh ('27)
Scouting Lead: Saaras Kodali ('26)
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The Outreach Department determines the team's competition strategy, coordinates outreach events, and spreads FIRST's message.
Business
Vice President: Mateo Agdeppa ('27)
Director of Public Relations: Katherine Chen ('27)
Provisional Lead of Finance: Cyrus Zhang ('28)
Provisional Lead of Fundraising: Meena Atluri('28)
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The Business Department obtains sponsorships and grants, organizes fundraisers, runs all social media accounts, and creates team promotional material.
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Albert's Angels
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We are a subcommittee of Team Optix dedicated to supporting women in STEM and ensuring an inclusive and open enviornment.
Drive Team
Captain: Tanay Paranjpe ('27)
Ensures drive team cohesiveness by leading strategy discussions with other alliance members before the match, directing the pilot and operator during the match, and making split-second situational decisions.
Pilot: Bryan Chen ('27)
Controls the movement of the robot of the field and the intaking of game pieces. Paramount for both on offesne, getting from place to place in an efficient manner, and defensive manueuverability.
Operator: Ian Huang ('28)
Controls shooter velocity, indexing (funneling game pieces to the scoring mechanism), auto-align, passing, and miscellaneous reset modes.
Human Player: Aaryav Lal ('28)​
Takes game pieces from specific stations and aids robots in intaking them or directly scoring them. Helps position robot pre-match.