Angel Velasco
Hafa Adai, my name is Angel Velasco and I am a 17-year-old senior from Okkodo High School. My hobbies include reading, writing, and thinking. My mind is constantly at work and that is wholly the reason why I joined robotics to relieve my thoughts and ideas.

Growing up, my childhood revolved around helping my dad fix broken and abandoned cars. At first, it felt like a chore until I was old enough to realize how exciting it was to wonder about what makes a car move and how to replace or put parts together. My exposure to robotics in the 6th grade was the ultimate eye-opener to the beauty of STEM. Back then, my math teacher decided to challenge my math skills by enlisting me in a Pre-Algebra course that was combined with a Robotics curriculum. My new teacher exposed me to Legos and later brought up STEM competitions, such as FLL and MATE ROV, which involve research, programming, and engineering. From then on, I grew a fondness for anything Robotics related mainly due to the building process that helps me think and the excitement each competition brings.

Cyle Sarmiento
Håfa Adai, My name is Cyle Sarmiento, I’m 16 years old and will turn 17 years old during the week of the competition. I am also a mechanical engineer and secondary driver for FGC 2022 Starbase Guam. I’m currently a junior at Simon Sanchez High School in Yigo, the northern part of Guam. I always had a passion for all things STEM related since I was young. From an early age, I engulfed myself in the world of STEM, always opening up and trying to fix my broken toys.

My first exposure to STEM in school was when I joined the MATE underwater robotics team. There I learned skills in both mechanical and electrical engineering. I would say I have a brain that always needs to be worked on and challenged. From a young age, I also fell in love with the game of Chess, and I am now one of Guam’s top chess players.

Having been given the opportunities to join multiple areas of STEM such as web coding classes using HTML and continuously joining my school’s robotics teams in both EV3 Lego robotics and MATE ROV robotics to further get more hands-on experience in STEM. I also have great experience in CAD and 3d printing, having a 3d printer allowed me to have a STEM outlet at home during the quarantine period of the Covid-19 Pandemic. I’ll continue to be involved in the STEM field in Guam and hope to continue in the field after I graduate.

Minjae Kim
Hi! My name is Minjae Kim, and I am 17 years old and living in Guam. I really enjoy and am passionate about STEM to the point I’ve taken almost all STEM classes offered in my school. I have a lot of things I want to be in the future, which include being a dentist, software developer, and aerospace engineer. In my spare time, I enjoy playing on my computer, gardening, and playing tennis.

Anherutowa Calvo
Håfa Adai, everyone! My name is Anherutowa Calvo; a rising senior at George Washington High School and a member of the Guam FGC Robotics team. My interest in STEM derives from an incident with my grandmother in 2012, where I grew a passion for anatomy, especially the brain. I plan to one day work in the field of biomedical engineering with a specification on neuroscience to assist people like her. However, being from an island, we do not have access to as many opportunities, which is why I endeavor to provide not only myself but the entire island of Guam with resources in the fields of sciences. My experience in the FIRST Global Challenge will be the stepping stone into my dream career as I will gain skills that will assist me in STEM. I look forward to the upcoming competition but most importantly, making friends along the way.

Keala Cruz
Hi, my name is Keala Cruz! I am 16 years old and live in Guam. I like to sing, take personality quizzes, and eat noodles. I really enjoy STEM subjects like math and plan to pursue a major in environmental engineering.

Linzy Delfin
Hafa Adai! My name is Linzy Delfin, a 17-year-old team member of the STARBASE Guam robotics team. I am primarily responsible for documenting the team’s progress in designing, creating, and refining the robot and the engineering processes involved. I am currently a senior attending Simon Sanchez High School. My inclination toward math and the sciences has always been evident from a young age. They have always been the subjects of my academic focus back in my homeland, the Philippines. Our migration to Guam, however, opened wider doors of learning for me, especially in the area of STEM, and presented new curiosities ready for exploration.

My first introduction to robotics occurred through my teacher’s efforts to teach us the construction and coding of EV3 Lego Mindstorms back in our 8th grade Pre-AP Science class. My eventual involvement in TCEA, FIRST Global, and Underwater Robotics competitions urged me to become more well-versed with this growing science. I started to understand how technology, engineering, and other innovative principles now combine to address certain issues and achieve specific goals. Alongside this, I have been proactive in studying potential areas of learning through my participation in the eCybermission competition for two consecutive years. The integration of research and robotics gave me a more holistic view of how technology aids us in our endeavors to reach solutions, and this urges me to continue pursuing the STEM field in the near future.

Paul Coliflores
Håfa Adai, I’m Paul Coliflores, and I am one of the leading mechanical engineers and programmers of the FGC 2022 Starbase Guam team. I’m 17 years old and a senior at Simon Sanchez High School. I have a strong interest in the STEM field due to my short history of robotics competitions and my passion for creating things through STEM.

During 8th grade, my science teacher got a hold of a couple of lego robotics kits and invited students such as myself to compete in a TCEA lego robotics competition. I was one of the prominent designers and the main coder who helped lead my team to second place in the islandwide competition. A year later in ninth grade, I joined yet another TCEA robotics competition and placed second yet again. I learned what it takes to build a robot for tasks and program it to perform to the best of its abilities. I would love to learn a lot more about robotics in any way I can.

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