Our Mentors

Tayler Uva earned his Bachelor's degree in Computer Science at Cal State University San Marcos. While attending college, he worked as an AVID tutor at Bear Valley Middle School teaching students math and science skills. He currently works as a data scientist at SDG&E in wildfire mitigation. He is a 2015 alumni of our team and was the former Vice President, Software, and Business/Media Lead. As a student he refined our teams brand, creating our website, and producing multiple videos and graphics. He later joined the software team, helping to push our programming to the next level. As a mentor he assists with all aspects of the team, teaching students in all departments, with an emphasis on programming and media. He has created a FRC Java Tutorial that is publicly available and helps other teams all around the world. After 1 year of mentoring, Tayler became an Assistant Coach, and 3 years later earned the position of Head Coach.

Mr. Sykora earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. He spent many years at MTS Systems, Hewlett-Packard and D&K Engineering where he recently retired. He has held project lead positions on servo-hydraulic testing systems, prototype assembly machines and manufacturing line analysis and operations. He started mentoring the SuperNURDs several years ago in 2016. He “...believes in exposing students to many types of possible careers so that they can make informed choices.” He and his wife, Sharon (a retired educator) believe strongly in helping our youth in whatever capacities they can. Mr. Sykora once ran in a marathon and always tries his best to do good for the environment.

Eli Uva is currently attending San Diego State University majoring in Mechanical Engineering. At San Diego State University Eli is part of their Electric Formula SAE racing team, "Aztec Electric Racing", where he is the Drivetrain & Powertrain Lead. He is a 2020 Alumni of the team and as a student was the team's Vice-President, Mechanical Lead, Driver and video editor. He joined his freshman year in 2017 after his brother Tayler Uva joined the team in 2013. As a student he refined our team's CAD operations creating many of the systems and practices our team still uses today. At San Pasqual High School he was very involved in the Welding and Machining Classes, as well as the SOAR Welding Club. He currently mentors our team's Mechanical department, teaching students CAD, metalworking, woodworking and assembly skills. He also mentors our team's Media department, teaching student skills in the fields of, photography, videography, video editing, and photo editing.

Mrs.Lutgen teaches Math II and Math III (S). She has been serving as Math Department Co-Chair at San Pasqual High School. She attended Rick’s College, now known as BYU-Idaho.   She received her Bachelor's in Mathematics and went on to obtain a Master’s Degree in Cross-Cultural education from National University. She was named the 2016 EUHSD Teacher of the Year. Within the SuperNurds, Mrs.Lutgen is a mentor to the Business team. In addition to teaching full time and mentoring, she is a wife and mother to five children. She is also Co-founder of the North County Consortium.

Mr. Squibb was a founding member of FRC team 3517, S.E.V.E.R.E, as a high school student in Queen Creek, Arizona. After finding a love for STEM in FRC, he majored in mathematics at Northern Arizona University. Mr. Squibb is currently a Math, and Statistics teacher at San Pasqual High School. He is also a big promoter of our team within the classroom. At meetings, Mr. Squibb helps out all departments of our team, seeing whichever one needs the most help.

Blake Hobbs is a Design Engineer at AGA Tools, and AGM products. Blake was a member of our team all 4 years of high school, and really pushed our team's mechanical capabilities to the next level. Blake was also our team's Co-President and Mechanical Department Lead as a student. After graduating high school, Blake began attending Palomar College, and working at Meziere Enterprises, as a CNC operator. At Palomar College he is currently pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering. At meetings Blake helps with the mechanical design process as well as manufacturing and assembly. In his free time, he designs and fabricates pre runner off road trucks.

Angela is an alumni of San Pasqual High School, and graduated in 2015. Angela attended Cal State San Marcos to receive a degree in Computer Science. Angela also mentored San Pasqual's all girl coding club called the Code Queens. In the summer of 2019 she was a software engineering intern at Hunter Industries where she learned about modern development practices and mob programming. Angela worked at Motorola solutions as a software developer for two years, before getting hired as a software engineer at SDG&E where she currently works. At meetings Angela mentors the software side of team, and anywhere else the team needs help.

Mr. Peck attended Notre Dame High School in Riverside, California, before going to University of California Riverside for his Bachelor's in mechanical engineering. Previously having worked for Laminated Shim, Co. and Naval Air Command (NAVAIR) for the US Navy, Peck currently works as a Aerospace Engineer for NAVAIR. Peck joined the team in the 2019 season, hoping to learn his own craft a little more through practice while teaching the students what he knows. Aside from the SuperNURDs, Peck also mentors another robotics team, the Robosapiens, team 3704, in San Diego.

An alumni of San Pasqual High School, Makenzie went on to attend the University of California San Diego and get her degree in structural engineering. Currently still a student, Makenzie began to mentor the SuperNURDs in the 2019 offseason, hoping to be a different type of mentor, bringing her knowledge and experience to the team.

Irvin Hernandez is a Mechanical Engineer at Kontron. He is an alumni of our team and graduated in 2012. After graduation he went to the University of San Diego, and majored in Mechanical Engineering. After getting his bachelors degree, he went to University of Southern California to get his masters degree in Mechanical Engineering. After getting his masters degree he decided to come back and become a mentor. At meetings Irvin helps out with the mechanical design process and prototyping.

Jacob Brown is currently majoring in Electrical Engineering at University of California, San Diego. He is a 2020 Alumni of our team, and was part of the team for all 4 years of high school. At meetings he mentors the electrical side of the team, teaching students basic to advanced topics of electrical engineering.