Hafa Adai! Team Starbase Guam consists of members Darryl Mercado, Veronica Obias, Christel Kei Valerio, Ely John Cataclan, John Paul Pineda, Lord Greystroke Mabalot, Mia Renee Hidalgo, Rodrigo Cruz, Brianna Carpo, and Lee Anne Paulo. All students are from various high schools on Guam who aspire to be role models in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) related fields. The team is guided by mentors Roderick Hidalgo and Marianne Movida, and managers Dr. Leah Beth Naholowaa and Sherylyn Tablan. The team is welcoming back a few returning and many new members. They all look forward to working together, challenging themselves, and making new friends.

DARRYL MERCADO
Håfa Adai, I am Darryl Castrence Mercado, a mechanical engineer, the main coder, and the captain of the FGC 2021 Starbase Guam team. I am currently 17 years old and a senior (grade 12) attending Okkodo High School. My experiences in STEM span as early as my introduction from 8th grade. Since the first day I had joined, I was mesmerized by the processes going through construction, logical understanding, and the sheer potential of its applications. At this rudimentary stage, I had been only in control of simple aspects such as legos and block coding through EV3 kits. In my journey throughout high school, I learned involvement in PVCs, motors, CAD programs, coding into javascript, and much more engineering design variations.

My interest in robotics had not been one that was always attended to. Originally, I had been prevented from joining as I had not been considered due to my grades not marking me as extraordinary. Due to this, I adapted myself to become fitting to retain access to the program. As I was embedded with a passion that had the ethic to place internationally and represent my country and school, I understand the struggle for those without access. As I retain a deeper understanding of each component for the future, I aim to teach and guide others.

VERONICA OBIAS
Håfa Adai, my name is Veronica Rose Obias, a civil engineer, co-researcher, and co-captain of the FGC 2021 Starbase Guam team. I’m 17 years old and currently attending my 12th grade at Okkodo High School. Ever since I was 13 years old, I’ve held a continuous interest in STEM. Math and science were always my strong subjects in school. When I joined the STEM club in middle school, I was further introduced to Guam’s ecosystem. We would often do environmental field trips and observe how nature worked. Through this experience, I was able to learn more about Guam’s land and environmental problems, and my past science experiments often dealt with solving environmental issues among the sites I visited on Guam.

When I entered high school, I continued my STEM journey by joining robotics. Robotics was a completely new experience for me. I had to do and work on things I wasn’t familiar with, such as the EV3 Lego Mindstorms and MATE ROVs. During my 9th grade year, my team for TCEA Lego Robotics won 1st place on Guam and won 3rd place in the national competition in Austin, Texas. I consider this win to be a special one as it encouraged me to continue staying in robotics. My team and I have also placed in other robotics competitions, such as the TCEA Lego Robotics Inventions division (3rd) in 10th grade, and MATE ROV Underwater Robotics (2nd) in 11th grade. Since I am in my senior year of high school right now, I hope to stay in the STEM path and further hone my skills after I graduate.

CHRISTEL KEI VALERIO
Håfa Adai, I’m Christel Valerio and I’m a lead researcher of the FGC 2021 Starbase Guam team. I’m currently a senior from George Washington High School with a strong passion for STEM. My favorite subjects in the field being environmental science, chemistry, and math. Since young, I was always fascinated by the STEM field and that fascination is what led me to be here. Living on an island has also made me more aware of global warming and pollution which also adds to my passion for STEM.

Upon entering high school, my freshman math teacher urged me to join the robotics team which started off my journey with robotics. This was my first experience with robotics, and although I was confused, it was truly a great learning opportunity. The specific competitions I have joined were the TCEA lego robotics competition and the MATE Underwater ROV competition. I continued to do robotics in my sophomore year but had to take a pause in my junior year due to the Covid-19 Virus.

ELY JOHN CATALAN
Hafa Adai, my name is Ely John Catalan. I am 18 years old and I am from Okkodo High school. I was originally from the Philippines, but my family decided to immigrate to Guam to find more opportunities. I am the PRO and the co-mechanical lead for the FGC 2021 Starbase Guam team.

My first experience in robotics was during my 8th-grade year in middle school. I remember being selected for the Lego robotics team which competed in a local competition and won 2nd place overall. I was not too interested at first, but as I learned there was more to robotics than just Legos. I joined other robotics competitions such as ROV and FGC robotics in 2019. My favorite part about robotics is the opportunity to connect with other great minds within my community and other communities for collaborations and cultural exchanges.

JOHN PAUL PINEDA
Håfa Adai, I’m John Paul Pineda, and I am one of the Civil Engineers of the FGC 2021 Starbase Guam team. I’m a 16 year old who’s currently a senior at George Washington High School and passionate about doing STEM-related activities. I find the aspects of engineering, mathematics, and technology the most fun and interesting to me, and I hope to pursue a career in the technology field.

I started my robotics experience by trying out lego robotics in my freshman year and really enjoyed it. Participating in robotics has inspired me to passionately continue the field. The opportunity to be able to work with people who share a common interest and hope to solve an issue is what makes me look forward to robotics. My experience in the field consists of participating in the TCEA Lego Robotics competitions and placing 3rd place in one of the competitions. I also participated in a MATE ROV Underwater Robotics and also placed 3rd. I hope to be able to apply what I learned in my past and current robotics events to my future career.

LORD GREYSTROKE MABALOT
Hafa Adai, my name is Lord Greystroke Mabalot. I am a member of the FGC 2021 Starbase Guam team. I am currently seventeen years old and a senior in Okkodo highschool. I am a member of team Starbase Guam. My main roles in the team are the lead mechanical engineer and co technical lead.

My main introduction to robotics was in my freshman year of high school when I joined the Okkodo robotics team and competed in TCEA. Joining robotics had a very positive impact on my life. It has given me treasured memories and experiences throughout my time in STEM. I was introduced to FGC by my coach Mr. Hidalgo. I hope to continue to build skills and opportunities to prepare me for life. What I cherish the most in robotics is creating lifelong memories with friends and others that I meet along the way.

MIA RENEE HIDALGO
Håfa Adai, my name is Mia Hidalgo, and I am a senior at Okkodo High School. I am a part of the STARBASE Guam robotics team as the co-pilot and one of the co-researchers. My life in STEM began when I joined the STEM club in my middle school. We were involved in activities like the science fair and hosting a STEM EXPO. I later became the president in my eighth-grade year.

Once I got to high school, I joined the robotics club. I participated in the TCEA EV3 LEGO competition, MATE Underwater ROV, and now I’m in FGC. My team and I actually placed 3rd in the TCEA Advanced Inventions Division by building and programming a scale model invention that could help the environment. I hope to further my life in the STEM field after high school by going into either the math field or studying to become a physical therapist.

RUDY RODRIGO CRUZ
Håfa adai one and all! My name is Rudy Cruz, I am a 17 year old student in 12th grade at Okkodo High School on the small island of Guam. I have been involved in Robotics all throughout my school life. My interest was first sparked in elementary through a program called GATE. We worked with Ev3 Lego Mindstorms skits, and that was when I first drew inspiration in Robotics. As this will be my last year in high school, I hope to make an impact that will encourage real-world application and encourage other students to take part in Robotics.

Since middle school, I have participated in programs like SIFA, MATE Underwater ROV, and Ev3 Lego Mindstorms. My main positions in Robotics include: Lead Coder, Electrical/Mechanical Engineer, and Lead Pilot. I’ve been fortunate to be part of such an accomplished team, we’ve won competitions consecutively. For Ev3 Lego Mindstorms, we won 1st locally and 3rd nationally at Austin, Texas freshman year, and 3rd place locally sophomore year. For MATE Underwater ROV, we were 2nd locally freshman year, and 1st place locally Junior year. This is my first year working under FGC, and I hope to gain and refine more skills such as leadership, cooperation, and problem-solving.

BRIANNA CARPO
Hafa Adai, my name is Brianna Carpo, a co-researcher and helper of the FGC 2021 Starbase Guam team. I am currently eighteen years old and attending the Guam Community College as a first-year. Planning is my strength and accountability for completing assignments is my specialty. I learned to be persistent and only take a break when the job is done. I am passionate about work and my hardworking characteristic is the quality I have to offer.

My interest in robotics started when a friend asked me to follow her to an FGC meeting. I agreed to help them out. I wasn’t too sure about what was going on, but after witnessing everything come together, I saw myself more and more intrigued by the process and technical side of robotics. The observable bonding and cohesion towards a finished product are what astounds me about STEM. Where coming from pieces that hold their own purpose to create a functioning whole.

LEE ANNE PAULO
Hafa Adai! My name is Lee Anne Paulo, and I am a co-researcher of the FGC 2021 Starbase Guam team. I am 17 years old, and I’m currently a senior attending Okkodo High School. I joined Okkodo’s robotics club when I was in my sophomore year. I also participated in my first robotics competition that same year.

I’ve never seen myself capable of being in a robotics club, but my friends encouraged me to give it a try. And I did, and now here I am. I always thought that I’d never had the skills to meet the requirements; however, throughout the time I’ve been in robotics, I’ve developed and improved my skills. I’ve participated in competitions, and with the help of friends, my team and I were able to place in those competitions. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic situation that occurred in my junior year, I haven’t been able to do anything robotics-related. I’m interested particularly in the STEM field because my career goal leans towards becoming a wildlife veterinarian. While working on that goal, I’d like to get into conservation–in hopes to start an organization of my own. I enjoy partaking in this event because it opens up many opportunities. I also get to gain new experiences and meet new people.