Success of our Graduates
Of the graduated members on the team, all have moved on to post secondary pathways and are always looking as to how they can better themselves and expand their robotics knowledge. We take pride in our graduates acting as mentors to the team especially the newest members teaching them as much as they can before moving away, or even coming back to share their newfound knowledge.
Former Build & Design Team Member and Head Scout.
Amanda was on the team from the start. She was with the team when they won the World Championship in 2013, and remained the year after to teach us everything she knew about scouting and building a world-class robot!
Going into university at the University of Waterloo, she became the winner of the Schulich Scholarship, University of Waterloo President’s Scholarship, SME Education Foundation E. Wayne Kay High School Scholarship, and Professional Engineers of Ontario Scholarship in 2014
During her time in Waterloo, she participated in many co-ops with well-known companies including Apple. After graduating in 2019, she started working as an engineering Consultant at X, the moonshot factory, which is where she is still working today.
Former Head Programmer
Andrew was a very loved member of this team, not only for his outstanding programming but for his sarcastic personality as well. He was very fun to be around, and watching him create things like his extremely precise tracking system was always inspiring to watch. Andrew still hasn’t completely left our team yet, since he still visits to teach us and help with the programming. We’re not sure he’ll ever truly leave, and we're infinitely thankful for the guidance and wisdom he shares with us.
Recently, he graduated from Queens University in electrical engineering. He now has a job working on graphics firmware and drivers at AMD.
Former Designer and CAD Designer
He was able to take the skills that he developed and preached as our Research and Development Lead and an expert at CAD and apply them to his new found love of cars. Anthony is always the first to answer any questions we have using Inventor to model our robots. He is only a phone call away and we know that we can always receive a reliable answer.
In 2021, he graduated from Mechanical Engineering at the University Guelph Graduate, and is now working in R&D Link & Suspension at Musashi Americas.
Former Lead Designer
Basil started his VRC journey in the Toss Up season. As a new Grade 10, he had a lot to learn! However, he quickly picked up the power tool skills and mechanical structure of the robot. Before university, he stayed and taught his succeeding members all he learned in his three years on the team.
He then went to Western University for an Undergraduate in Computer Science in 2016, and then Sheridan College for a Bachelor's degree in 2018.
Former Online Challenge and Media Team Member
Chris was an integral part of the online challenge and media team while a member of the PiLons. He was forever working tirelessly on whatever script we required next, from voice overs, to graphics, to set up and take down, Chris was the guy. He passed on this enthusiasm to his successor Devon.
In 2015, he pursued Game Development at Niagara College, and is now working in the industry.
Former Head Scout and Media Team Member
Employee as a performer at Canada’s Wonderland as a Bass Guitarist.
Devon broke the trend of our graduates going into one of the STEM fields. Devon was our head scout for two years and taught our current scouts all they know about strategy and picking the best complimentary alliance. He makes his best effort to come out to all our events and competition and spread his music and energy with the crowds.
Former Head Builder and Tactician
Granted a Course Scholarship
Received a Summer Lab Research Job
He always took the time to explain every single detail on the robot. He knew the reasoning for each screw and washer and why it was so precisely placed. He was able to relate closely with each new member, as he at one point knew nothing about build and design and the VEX Robotics Competition.
Former Builder
Griffin helped create lots of ideas for robot designs on the team, and thought way outside the box. Griffin could build just as quickly as he could come up with ideas! Griffin was also very essential in training all the new team members in scouting, strategy, and how to choose alliance partners, and was always a cheerful person to be around.
He is attending McMaster University for mechanical engineering, and is currently on a co-op at Tesla!
Former Team Captain, Head Programmer, and Alliance Drive Team Member
Winner of the Schulich Scholarship in 2015
Captain of the SAE AutoDrive
Ella is the E-Bots legend! After winning two programming skills championships, the world excellence championship, starting her own youth technology involvement program in our local area, and getting into one of the best engineering schools in the world, you can say that she sure is all of our idols. Ella is always the first person to share any and all information she has learned, whether it is about programming advice or different tidbits of information regarding post secondary paths.
Former Head Programmer and Driver
Jacob was the very first driver that represented the E-Bots Pilons at competition. He passed on everything he learned to his successors Sam and it continues to pass along the chain of drivers. Now that Jacob has gone through four years of engineering focused courses, he is able and willing to answer all of the difficult physics questions that we cannot solve with our limited high school knowledge.
Former Online Challenge Team Member & Strategist
Justin was a great help to both the Online Challenges and strategy side to our team. He helped really develop any ideas for videos we had, and helped in creating a cool game animation idea. On the strategy side, Justin was very involved in organizing and choosing alliances throughout the season as well. Every once in a while he also did some programming, leading him to the program he’s in today.
Former Head Builder and Team Captain
Kalli was involved in just about everything on our team. From being our Head Builder and working a ton on the robot, to managing documentation, finances, and advising the Online Challenge team, she was a very involved Captain. Kalli followed in Ella’s footsteps even in the amazing program she got accepted into, but surpassed her in leadership in a few ways. Kalli still comes back every now and then to check up on us and give any advice on designs we have throughout the year!
Former Head of Online Challenges and Administrator and Media Lead
Kieran was a huge, huge asset on our team. He lead anything and everything to do with media, outreach, sponsorships and online challenges. When it came to any administrative activities, Kieran was the one organizing it all. He spent so much time and put so much effort into this team, sometimes even taking on too much yet still getting things done. Kieran still spends as much time as he can helping to teach us all he knows.
Former Design & Build Team Member
Liam was always eager to design and share his learning. He would teach everybody and anybody about all things robotics. When we went to events he would be the first one to explain the most complex idea to the smallest of children. Somehow, he made it interesting enough for him to have their undivided attention. He had the team in the same trance, we would always be able to understand the complex physics problems he was trying to solve as he was excellent at explaining all his steps.
First Year Computer Engineering at Queen’s University
Former Head Programmer
Nick started VEX at his high school before joining our team. He came to our team with so much programming skill and knowledge to share with our team, and perfected our Absolute Positioning System. His autonomous routines saved us so many times in game, and he was so essential to our 2018 skills win. Nick now teaches us how to program in little class sessions for those of us with less experience, and is really working on making sure we have great programmers in the future.
Former Programmer
Pranali worked in close quarters with Jacob and Ella developing the software to utter perfection. With her younger sister also being on the team for two years, she was able to make it out to our competitions and help us with any quick programming questions we might have. We know that with Pranali, and all of our graduates, they are merely a phone call away.
Former Head Builder
Qaiz was super dedicated the minute he got on the team. He only had 2 years with us, and was determined to make the absolute most of it. Qaiz spent so many long nights learning until 2am his first year, and applied everything as our most dedicated head builder the year after. VEX is definitely his biggest passion, and he put so much time into our winning 2018 robot. We know Qaiz is going to come back, visit, and give us pointers a lot in the coming years.
Former Online Challenge and Media Lead
Sam was, funnily enough, one of the members that wanted absolutely nothing to do with the robot. He devoted his three years on the team to winning and placing in many of the online challenges over the years. Also being a driver for one season, he learned a lot about adapting and picking up the controls and pressure quickly. Sam is a necessary part, especially when it comes to online challenge season, in making sure we go through the required planning and editing to create an outstanding media project.
Vice President of TrainingVice President of Training for McMaster Competitive Programming and a full-stack developer at MenLo Lab Inc.
Was a hardworking and determined programmer that won multiple World Championship titles in 2017-2018.
Program Director at Startup Dojo
Has worked as an intern at Asensus Surgical, eleven-x and Swap Robotics.
Zain was the head programmer and lead driver. He dedicated himself to the team.
He has worked as a consultant with Google and is a partner of a consulting company called Light Consulting in Toronto.
PNB Student at McMaster University, Program Support Assistant for McMaster MacPherson Institute
Former Head Programmer, Strategist and Drive Team Member
Mike was the Head Programmer and a valuable member of Team 5225A. Now, he is heading into the Computer Sciences program at Queen's University, with promises to visit in the future.
Former Team Captain, Head Builder, Strategist, CAD Designer, and member of the Drive Team
Aidan was an integral part of The PiLons. He helped out in many areas of the team and showed a great determination to finishing tasks and improving our robot. His sharp mind was an asset to the team, and will be missed as he moves on to the University of Waterloo for Mechatronics.
Former Builder
Aidan was a valuable member of the Pilons build team for three years, and helped come up with innovative solutions and designs for prototypes.
Ethan's keen eye and knack for loopholes led him to being the lead strategist for his time on the Pilons, and his guidance was crucial for round robins and eliminations. He was a core analyzer, and began figuring out the ins and outs of the game as soon as he joined the team. His insight will be missed, but his positive contributions will be passed down and remembered for many years to come.
Former Programmer and Animator