Are you passionate about technology and engineering? Come join the Preuss Robotics Team! Collaborate with fellow students to design, build, and program innovative robots while developing essential skills in teamwork and problem-solving.
Mentors
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The Midnight Mechanics are mentored by various teachers and community members who aspire to instill core FIRST values.
Dan Rupert
Mr. Rupert has been an integral part of the Midnight Mechanics for over two decades. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering and primarily focuses on mentoring in mechanical design, including CAD design and gear ratios. Mr. Rupert was introduced to the FIRST Robotics program by the founding coach of Team 812, Rob Mainieri, and subsequently led a team at Rancho Bernardo High School for several years before joining the faculty at Preuss School. Before his involvement with FIRST, he participated in various battle bot events with students from Rancho Bernardo High School. Still, he recognized that FIRST offered a superior platform for promoting engineering education and the principles of Gracious Professionalism. Mr. Rupert continues to be a valuable mentor for the team since his retirement from teaching.
Shaoni Bandy
I have been mentoring Team 812 for over six years! I double majored in Biology and Human Development at UC San Diego and received my Master’s in Education. While Mr. Rupert handles more of the technical mentorship, I advise the business and outreach side. I first got involved with FIRST through an invitation from another mentor and am so happy to be a part of the Midnight Mechanic team.
Dan O'Neill
DAN O'NEILL is a software technology executive and developer. His positions included VP of Engineering at The Experience Engine and Certona, both big data analytics and personalization companies. Before Certona, O'Neill was CTO and Exec. VP of Mood Media, a worldwide retail media services company. Mood Media purchased Trusonic, Inc. in 2007 where O'Neill was the co-founder, CTO and Exec. VP. During his tenure, the company reinvented the digital delivery of preprogrammed audio to retailers and grew the business more than 30% year over year. Before co-founding Trusonic, O'Neill was the CTO of VU Net USA, a
division of Vivendi Universal responsible for MP3.com, MP4.com, Pressplay (now Roxio/Napster), Rollingstone.com, and eMusic. From 1999 to 2003 O'Neill was the VP of Engineering at MP3.com where he assisted
in a $370m IPO and built the engineering, operations, and analytics teams. Santa Clara University, Leavey School of Business, named O'Neill to its IPO Hall of Fame in 2000, and the School of Engineering named O'Neill the 2009 Distinguished Engineering Alumnus. O'Neill holds both a BSME and an MSCS degree from Santa Clara University.