Mentor: Leandro Giovanni Barajas
IEEE Senior Member
Staff Researcher, General Motors
Troy, MI

What is your favorite part about this competition?

“Helping this group of tremendously motivated kids to realize their full potential and giving them an edge in life by showing them what can be achieved through disciplined work and by setting stretch targets.”

Mentor: Mark Dobbs
IEEE Member
Telecommunications Engineer, Duke Energy
Indianapolis, IN

Why did you decide to become a mentor?

“My daughter was on the team starting in 2004. I found the program to be pretty exciting and fun and I wanted to do my part to share my experiences in the working world and help the students along in their careers. I was part of the team’s parent crew until I was invited to be a mentor in 2006. I got the opportunity to work alongside my daughter for two years before she graduated from the school in 2007. I still find it very rewarding.”

Mentor: Matt Morrise
IEEE member
Principal Engineer, Intel Corporation
Portland, OR

What is your favorite part about this competition?

“I mentored the coding team and love C++ and teaching it to the students. This is one situation where teenagers value your advice – you can’t beat that!”