About Us

Established in 2016

Our FRC team was founded in the fall of 2016 by a group of students and our mentors, Scott Smith and Julie Occleshaw. We originally started off as an FRC team, but have added two FLL and five FLL Jr. teams which many of our FRC team members mentor.

Our Vision and Goals

Vision:
We are an inclusive team of diverse students working together to learn about STEM education in an applied setting. We believe that STEM is for everyone and it is our mission to inspire and support others locally and globally to learn more about STEM.

Goals for 2021-2022 Season:

To challenge ourselves to reach as many people as possible through a variety of outreach initiatives
To inspire others to start their own FIRST teams
To Mentor Rookie teams through a variety of supports
To build a competition-ready robot to compete at the Canadian Pacific Regional Competition
To be recognized for our efforts in the hopes of earning an invitation to participate in the World Championships in Houston, Texas on April 20-23, 2022

Our Mentors

Bryan China
Fabrication Mentor FRC Team

Bryan is our Automotive Teacher and Senior Robotics Teacher at North Surrey Secondary School. He has been with FIRST since he was in high school himself. Bryan had initially started as the mentor for FRC team 6008, who was awarded the Industrial Design award in 2017 at the Western Canadian Regional. Since then, he has moved to our school and taken the role of Design and Build Team Mentor for FRC Team 6390 Hephaestus.

Arnel Aliwalis
Programming Mentor FRC Team

Arnel is a Technology Education Teacher at North Surrey Secondary. This is Arnel's first year mentoring for a FIRST Team. He is currently the Programming Team Mentor for FRC Team 6390 Hephaestus.

Ryan Chegwidden
Electrical Mentor FRC Team

Ryan is a Technology Education Teacher at North Surrey Secondary. Ryan has mentored the junior students in FLL and has mentored them through making our playing field. He is currently the Fabrication Mentor for FRC Team 6390 Hephaestus.

Tammy Mackie
Administration Mentor FRC Team

Tammy is a Business Teacher at North Surrey Secondary. Tammy assists our admin team with their tasks while also managing the funds for our team. She is currently the Administration Mentor for FRC Team 6390 Hephaestus.

Our Founders

Scott Smith
Founder/Lead Technical Mentor FRC & FLL teams

Scott Smith is the Technology Education Helping Teacher, SD36 and is the former Lead Technical Coach/Mentor for FRC Team 6390 Hephaestus.

Julie Occleshaw
Founder/Lead Administrative Mentor FRC, FLL & FLL Jr. Teams

Julie Occleshaw has been an educator with SD36 (Surrey) since 1999 and had been in her position as the Career Development Facilitator and Careers Department Head at North Surrey Secondary School from 2009-2018. Since then, she has become the vice principal at Earl Marriot Secondary.