Coaches and Mentors
Sarah Szczepanski
Coach And Physics Teacher
2nd year on Team 701
Ms. Sarah teaches freshman physics, astronomy, and robotics classes at Vanden High School. On the Robotics team, she enjoys learning so much from all the members and watching the robot get built. In her free time, she likes to design video games. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in Astrophysics. She is currently enrolled in the University of San Francisco, working towards earning a Master's degree in Education.
sszczepanski@vandenrobotics.com
(707) 628-2336
Duane Murphy
Programming & Business Mentor
15th year on Team 701
Mr. Murphy has been interested in robotics, specifically with the RoboVikes.... He has a vivid memory of the tetris themed game in 2005 where he was the coach on drive team at a competition simply because he was the tallest mentor.
John Franco
Programming and Electrical Mentor
1st year on Team 701
Mr. Franco is our electrical and programming mentor starting in the 2023 build season. He is a trained field scientist and amateur maker with over 15 years of experience developing environmental sensors and implementing water quality monitoring networks. When time (and weather) permits, he likes to build and fly drones.
Doug Green
Previous Coach/ Founder
20th year on Team 701
Mr. Green has been the head coach of Team 701 since the very beginning. Though he has now moved on and now teaches at Solano Community College, he is still involved. He loves when students collectively learn about cutting edge technology while applying it to the classroom and the real world. Outside of robotics, Mr. Green enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking, rock climbing and blowing up rockets :). He graduated from UC Davis and majored in Nuclear Physics.
Bob Anderson
Welding, Mechanical & Construction Mentor
3rd year on Team 701
Mr. Anderson is neighbors with Aaron and Derek Lance. His favorite name to call students is "knucklehead" and recently he has been the life and entertainment of the team. He majored in Automotive technology and did set construction and special effects on the movie, "Days of Thunder". Outside of robotics he likes spending time with family and fishing with friends. He likes working in his garage and helping people by fixing things.
Blake Miles
Mechanical Mentor
5th year on Team 701
Mr. Miles is a RoboVike alumni who currently studies mechanical engineering at Solano Community College. He still comes to robotics to help our team by giving guidance about building a robot.
Cyndi Miles
Business Mentor
5th year on Team 701
Cindy Miles is the parent of RoboVike alumni, Blake Miles. She is currently a teacher in the Travis Unified School District. In her free time, she helps our operations team by giving outreach ideas and business pointers.