MENTORS

Get To Know Our Mentors

Rhea Mae Arellano

  • Ms. Arellano is a former student of the program and is currently a student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, majoring in Mechanical Engineering. As our Lead VEX EDR mentor, she teaches students how to CAD design, assemble robots, and document in their engineering notebooks. Ms. Arellano also mentors the construction sub-team, teaching students how to CAD design and assists in assembling the parts created by students.

William Blaser III

  • Mr. Blaser, a former student of our program, is a remote mentor assisting our students with competition scouting and statistics. As a remote mentor, he meets our students virtually to aid with creating and analyzing team data collection.

Jefferson Bruno

  • Mr. Bruno is a former student of our program and currently works as an engineer for Hawaiian Airlines. As our Lead CAD Design mentor, he teaches students how to use Autodesk Inventor, Flow Design, and Master CAM to design and build prototypes of functional systems and FRC Robots. He also assists in the assembly of the parts created by students.

Bowen Cassel

  • Mr. Cassel is a former student of the program and is currently a student at the University of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, studying robotics engineering. He assists students in any electrical or programming support needed, using his experience on the team to give design, programming, and electrical support to new students.

Howard Cohen

  • Mr. Cohen is a remote mentor assisting our students with the FIRST Impact Award, marketing strategies, social media, and mechanical support. As a remote mentor, he meets our students virtually to aid our students through mechanical or non-technical. Mr. Cohen also serves as our team’s liaison with FIRST Headquarters and representative in the Hall of Fame Steering group. All decisions and input are made in support of our team’s mission and goals as we participate in the FIRST Robotics Competition. He also aids in tournament participation, volunteers at events we participate in, and provides remote mentoring to our control systems team during the robot build season. Mr. Cohen works with our team in-person at many of our competitions and events throughout the year.

Kayuga De Guzman

  • Ms. De Guzman is a former student of the program who is not attending University of Pennsylvania, Majoring in economics at Wharton Business School. She specializes on social media presence and our FIRST Impact Award submissions. She uses her experience on the team to aid our students with feedback and advice on projects such as our team magazine.

Joseph Gudoy

  • Mr. Gudoy is a former student of our program and currently works as a Pipe Fitter at American Piping and Boiler Company. As our lead welder, he teaches our students how to fabricate material into functional parts using MIG and TIG welding.

Rhayvyn Hirayama

  • Ms. Hirayama is a former student of the program and is currently a student at Grand Canyon University (Phoenix, AZ), majoring in Nursing. As a hospitality and outreach mentor, she assists in assembling team omiyage, fundraisers, and volunteers at outreach events.

Micah Holmberg

  • Mr. Holmberg is a former student of the program and is currently a student at Honolulu community college, majoring in Aeronautic Maintenance Technology. As a shop machinist, he teaches the students to bring design ideas to life by providing hands-on learning for students in our machine shop. Some of the proficient use in basic fabrication, use of shop/hand tools, waterjet cutting, mini-mill, CNC mill, and the use of a Lathe.

Paul Hutchinson

  • Mr. Hutchinson, a Waialuan student and recent graduate of the University of Hawaii, teaches student how to create robot prototype sub-functions, aiding in the iterations of our robot designs. He helps students with all pneumatic and motor assemblies, teaching them how to assemble the parts they create.

Glenn Lee

  • At Waialua High & Intermediate School, Mr. Lee teaches Engineering Entrepreneurship/ Technology. He serves as the Waialua STEM Learning Center Director, Career Technical Education (CTE) Coordinator, and After-school Academic/Enrichment Program Director. As a lead mentor, he coordinates and manages all sub-teams’ workflow, provides design input on robot functions, and serves as the drive coach. He is one of the original founding members of the Waialua Robotics Program and serves as the main contact for our team. Mr. Lee has helped recruit machining, welding, and engineering partners and does all ordering of supplies, equipment, and materials for the facilities. On his own personal time, he does grant writing to support the program. He serves on committees that leverage support for the team’s initiatives from the school district, the Friends of Hawaii Robotics, and the Hawaii Robotics Community. He is also President of Friends of Waialua Robotics, whose main purpose is to raise non-appropriated funds to support the Waialua STEM Learning Center and travel costs for participating in competitions.

Kobe Lunasco

  • Mr. Lunasco is a former student of the program and is currently a student at the Academy of Art University (San Francisco, CA), majoring in Animation and Visual Effects. Mr. Lunasco mentors the documentation sub-team and is responsible for animation, graphic design, and is occasionally a website editor. He regularly mentors our students and assists in all areas of documentation, providing support in our areas of need. His efforts have helped our students with visuals during award presenting, our website, and any animation and videos created by our program.

Sean Lunasco

  • Mr. Lunasco is a self-employed business owner of Outside the Box and a parent to one of our alumni. He loves inventing and creating functional tools, devices, and accessories for existing products, including automotive, fishing, and handheld devices. Mr. Lunasco helps to solicit business partnerships with local entities, providing services to help them as they support our program. Some generous local businesses supporting our program include Oakley, Nike, Xcel Surf Shop, Midas Hawaii, and Hammerhead Spearguns. As a construction mentor, he helps students in woodworking and using shop/hand tools in construction. Our robots are annually powder coated in-house, led by Mr. Lunasco, who shows students creative graphical art designs and the proper prepping of materials and spray techniques for a beautiful, professional-looking color.

Melvin Matsunaga

  • Mr. Matsunaga is a retired Machinist from the University of Hawaii Physics Department. As our Lead Machinist, he teaches the students to bring design ideas to life by providing hands-on learning for students in our machine shop. Some of the proficient use in basic fabrication, use of shop/hand tools, waterjet cutting, mini-mill, CNC mill, and the use of a Lathe.

Malcom Menor

  • Mr. Menor is a former student of our program and currently works as a nuclear engineer for the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard (PHNSY-IMF). As a construction mentor, he teaches students how to use Autodesk Inventor, Flow Design, and Master CAM to design and build prototypes of functional systems and FRC Robots. He also assists in the assembly of the parts created by students. As the Lead Electronics mentor, he teaches students how to wire and fabricate robot parts and the control system correctly and efficiently.

Clyde Miyataki

  • Mr. Clyde Miyataki is a retired general manager at Servco Toyota Hawaii and a substitute teacher at Waialua High & Intermediate School. As an outreach mentor, Mr. Miyataki volunteers at outreach events and helps as a judge for robotics competitions.

Cody Miyataki

  • As a former student, Cody was an influential member, pioneering new and innovative forms of organization and leadership, motivating his peers and underclassmen to strive for excellence. After graduation, he pursued a career in the Air Force while simultaneously coordinating a youth program to protect and give back to his community. Now as an alumni/mentor, Mr. Miyataki has returned, giving current members the best chance at success by sharing his knowledge and wide range of skills.

Sarah Miyataki

  • Mrs. Miyataki is the parent of a program alumni and current student of the program. She assists in assembling team omiyage, fundraisers, and volunteers at outreach events as a hospitality and outreach mentor.

Carson Moniz

  • Mr. Moniz is a former student and a current shop mentor on our team. He assists our other lead mentors and provides training to students in the use of hand tools and machines in our shop, especially our Waterjet. He also works on our Entrepreneurial Special Projects which helps our program work with partners, raising funds for our program.

Ryden Omine

  • Mr. Omine is a former student of Team 3721, Pearl City High School. He is currently a student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, majoring in Mechanical Engineering. As our VEX EDR-Lead Engineering mentor, he teaches students how to CAD design and assemble robots.

Grayson Phelan

  • Mr. Phelan was a former student of the program who is now attending Univeristy of Hawaii at Manoa, majoring in Electrical Engineering. As a former student, he uses his experience to help newer students in electrical assistance with our team robot. As a scouting assistant, he teaches our younger students strategies while scouting robots during FRC competitions. Creating an algorithm to sort through robot data gathered by students.

Cody Smith

  • Mr. Smith is a former student of our program and currently works as a mechanical engineer at NAVSEA Warfare on Ford Island. As the Lead CNC Machinist of two of our most important machines, the FLOW Waterjet and SHARP MiniMill, he teaches students how to successfully create tool paths and G-code to use our machines’ CNC capabilities. Mr. Smith also mentors the construction sub-team, teaching students how to CAD design and assists in assembling the parts created by students.

Linda Souza

  • Ms. Souza is a part-time teaching assistant at Waialua High & Intermediate School. She serves as the Lead Hospitality mentor, assembling team omiyage and organizing fundraisers. As travel team mentor, Ms. Souza plans the itinerary and handles competitions and outreach events logistics. Her extensive duties include handling DOE-required paperwork, reserving hotels, rental cars, and activities for students as she works with parents on a collection of funds.

Joy Uehara

  • Joy is a current mentor and alumna of Team 4201. She currently serves as a remote mentor on our Documentation and Media teams, specifically focusing on the submitted awards like the Impact Award and Dean's List and other writing or graphic design projects. Her experience with other FIRST teams also enables her to provide advice on administrative aspects of the team and support strategy at competitions.

Randy Wood

  • Mr. Wood is a retired and the former owner of an Engineering Company in Newport Beach. As the Lead Control Systems mentor, he mentors students in electrical, pneumatic, Java and C++ programming to utilize each component of the robot.

Manda Yeung

  • Ms. Yeung is a former mentor and parent on Team 1678. She currently serves as a remote mentor on our Documentation and Media teams, while serving as a technology and logistics support on our team’s competitions and trips throughout the year. She reviews many of our team’s award submissions and writeups, while conducting many remote workshops and training for both mentors and students in our program on regularly scheduled meetings. Ms. Yeung works with our team in-person at many of our competitions and events throughout the year.

Yoshio Yoshizumi

  • Mr. Yoshizumi is a former student of our program and currently works as a mechanical engineer for the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard (PHNSY-IMF). As a prototyping mentor, he teaches students how to create prototypes of robot subsystems, aiding in the iterations of our robot designs. He also assists in the assembly of the parts created by students.