Team

ABOUT OUR TEAM

FTC Team 8404 Quixilver currently has 12 members, ranging from 7th to 12th grade: 3 attending Bret Harte Middle School and 9 attending Leland High School. Members meet at Leland and are mentored by Mr. Kevin Tibbs and Mrs. Helen Arrington. FTC 8404 is the sister team of FRC Team 604 Quixilver, also based at Leland. Each year, Team 8404 recruits students from both Leland and Bret Harte. All members strive to maintain Gracious Professionalism, and are vital to the overall success of the team.

12TH GRADERS

ROHI PATIL (Captain and Mechanical Lead)
Email: [email protected]
Rohi is a senior currently attending Leland High School and is excited for her fourth year with Quixilver 8404! She has had a lot of fun with Lego robotics and now really enjoys mechanical work. Mechanical work always fascinated Rohi; in general “working with her hands” makes her happy. Other than robotics, Rohi plays the piano where she is currently working on her diploma and she participates in sports, one of which is badminton. Rohi is an avid lover of nature and all the animals in it. At the moment she has a betta fish and hopes to get many more pets in the future. You can often find her in her garage just having fun with random materials.

Fun fact: Rohi has a twin sister.

ALEX WANG (Programming)
Email: [email protected]
Alex is a senior at Leland High and is excited to continue his journey on this team. He has always had a passion for working on large intellectual projects and enjoys working closely with his friends. Prior to joining the team, Alex did FLL for several years in elementary school and also learned to code in his free time. He knows Python, Java, and a little bit of C++. Alex is looking forward to his time in 8404, hoping to improve his coding skills, make new friends, and tackle difficult challenges. Outside of school, Alex enjoys playing the piano, listening to music, and practicing math (he hopes to qualify for USAMO this year!).

Fun fact: Alex once solved a Rubik’s cube in under 10 seconds.

LIN JIANG (Programming)
Email: [email protected]
Lin is a senior at Leland High School and is excited to participate in his second year with Quixilver 8404! Lin first learned Python in middle school, and has gradually developed experience in C++ and Rust as well. Ever since his first encounters with computers at a young age, Lin has developed a passion for computer science, particularly in algorithms and cybersecurity. Recognizing that programming bridges humans and computers, Lin believes that mastering this language is vital for daily life. He is looking forward to applying his skills on the team to tackle many challenges. Outside of robotics, Lin loves to play piano, which he has won many competitions in and volunteers to play for charity. Lin also enjoys mathematics and you can also often find him experimenting with computer software.

Fun fact: Lin uses Arch as his primary operating system on his laptop.

10TH GRADERS

ANA FLACAU (Vice Captain)
Email: [email protected]
Ana is a sophomore at Leland High School and is thrilled to participate in her second season on this team. She began her robotics career on an FLL team where she was exposed to programming. Since then, Ana has discovered a passion for mechanical while on this team. She’s excited to continue to improve her mechanical skills this year. Outside of robotics, Ana participates in the Leland High School’s Speech and Debate program in Congressional debate as well as Declamation. In her free time, she enjoys hanging out with friends, watching movies, backpacking, and camping. You can often find her listening to music in her room and spending time with her foster kitties.

Fun Fact: Ana’s favorite movie genre is horror and she enjoys learning about true crime cases.

ISHAAN DESAI (Programming Lead)
Email: [email protected]

9TH GRADERS

RAYDEN KHOR (Mechanical)
Email: [email protected]
Rayden is a freshman at Leland High School and is excited to be a part of Quixilver 8404. Rayden has previously participated in Lego Robotics and enjoys the 'hands on' approach of mechanical. He is very excited to be honing his mechanical and design skills this year with the team. He participates in Leland's Speech and Debate Program outside of Robotics, in events Expository and Impromptu. In his free time, he reads and spends time in the garage. You can find him spending time with family and reading.

DANIEL PASHKEVICH (Mechanical)
Email: [email protected]
Daniel is a freshman at Leland High school, and is extremely excited to be part of the team for his first year. Daniel is very passionate about engineering, and has loved it for as long as he can remember. From building Legos to working with a real robot, his knowledge in engineering has come a long way. Every day Daniel aims to learn new things and advance his skills in the field, and he aims to do so with the help of robotics. In his free time, Daniel typically spends his time playing soccer or hanging out with friends. He also loves music, and spends much of his time listening to it. He also enjoys video games, TV shows, and spending time outside with his family.

Fun fact: Daniel has two younger brothers.

FARZAN ISLAM (Outreach)
Email: [email protected]
Farzan is a freshman at a Leland High School and is looking forward to his first year on Quixilver 8404. He is interested in the outreach section of the team and has prior experience in the area. He is excited to have many outreach opportunities this season. Outside of robotics, he plays the piano and is part of a Boy Scouts troop. He enjoys math and science, and plays percussion in the school's band. In his free time, Farzan is either reading, playing video games, playing soccer with friends, or camping with the Boy Scouts troop.

Fun fact: Farzan is currently taking flight lessons

TONY DUNG (Programming)
Email: [email protected]

8TH GRADERS

JAIVEER BALA (Mechanical)
Email: [email protected]
Jaiveer is a eighth grader currently attending Bret Harte Middle School and is excited for a new year on 8404! Jaiveer has always enjoyed the mechanical aspect of things, and he does several projects. He also races drones and hopes to to qualify in competitive racing! Jaiveer also enjoys video games and basketball, as well as extreme BMX. Jaiveer also has a little sister, and you can usually find him in a field pulling insane aerials or designing something new.

Fun fact: Jaiveer can in fact actually factually dunk on a 10 foot hoop

SARINA QURESHI (Mechanical and Outreach)
Email: [email protected]
Sarina is in 8th grade, and this is her second year on the team. Sarina loves to work and teach people and in her free time she likes to hangout with friends or read. Outside of school Sarina also plays guitar and loves to listen to music, as well as playing basketball for fun. She also loves to teach kids and is planning to do a lot of outreach this season.

Fun fact: Not related to me but, bananas are slightly radioactive

7TH GRADERS

SHAAN (CHARLIE) SRIDHARA (Mechanical)
Email: [email protected]
Shaan, a seventh grader at Bret Harte Middle School, is thrilled to start his FTC journey with Team Quixilver 8404. His passion for robotics began early, driven by a fascination with how simple components can come together to create something complex. His experience in Lego robotics has led him to build a number of robots with varied capabilities. Outside of robotics, Shaan is interested in video games, karate, and math.

Fun Fact: Shaan has been to all seven continents

MENTORS

MR. KEVIN TIBBS (Head Mentor & Teacher Advisor)
Mr. Kevin W. Tibbs - Spending the first 15 years of his professional life as an industrial researcher, Mr. Tibbs started teaching both Physics and Electronics at Leland High School in 2008 after a career change. He values his teaching experience as the most rewarding and satisfying part of his life. In 2014, he saw an opportunity to expand into robotics, so he started FTC 8404. He never ceases to be amazed at how clever, focused, and driven his students are and loves seeing his team use the engineering process to develop not only their robot but themselves. He continues to enjoy watching young people grow into responsible young adults and hopes to continue working with his community for a long time.

Fun fact: He continues to challenge himself mentally by learning a language and physically by climbing walls.

MRS. HELEN ARRINGTON (Mentor & Teacher Advisor)
Mrs. Arrington is the sole founder, passionate mentor, and enthusiastic leader of the Leland FRC 604 Robotics team, and she has been involved with FIRST for 19 years. She gives up her weekends, weekdays, holidays, and even supervises overnight sessions to robotics, all without pay. She exemplifies gracious professionalism and dedication, volunteering at every FLL, FTC or FRC tournament in the area. In 2014, she encouraged Mr. Kevin Tibbs, a physics teacher at Leland High School, to start a FTC team for 8th graders at local middle schools. This idea led to the formation of FTC team 8404. She continues to mentor both FTC 8404 and FRC 604 and inspire students.

PAST MEMBERS

Jessica Pearson (2014-2019): Founding Team Captain, Founding Programming Lead, Driver
Emily Chun (2014-2019): Founding Outreach Lead
Dean Haroon (2014-2017): Founding Mechanical Lead
Wesley L. (2014-2016): Founding Member
Nicholas C. (2014-2015): Founding Member
Matthew C. (2014)
Ellen J. (2015-2020): Outreach Lead, Treasurer, Secretary
Terrence T. (2015-2020): Co-Captain, Mechanical Lead, Driver
Ryan Ng. (2015-2019): PR Lead
Binh N. (2015-2017): CAD Lead
Patric C. (2015-2016)
Ryan P. (2015-2016)
Alex C. (2016-2021): Programming Lead
Daniel D. (2016-2021): Treasurer, Secretary, Parent Liaison
Ethan P. (2016-2020): Co-Captain
Yash B. (2016-2017)
Marisa N. (2016-2017)
Aroshi G. (2017-2022): Captain, Driver
Kobe G. (2017-2021): Captain, Outreach Lead
Tom L. (2017-2021): Mechanical Lead
Ryan Ni. (2017-2021): PR Lead
Andrea B. (2018-2022): Programming Lead
Debbie A. (2018-2020): Safety Captain, Driver
Anahita K.G. (2019-2022)
Sahana G. (2020-2022)
Esther K. (2020-2022): Mechanical Lead
Aneri S. (2020-2022)
Austin C. (2018-2023): Co-Captain
Ruhan G. (2021-2023): Programming Co- Lead
Amelia K. (2019-2024) Captain, Outreach Lead
Daniel X. (2019-2024) Mechanical Lead
Aidan P. (2020-2024) Programming Lead
Bryant V. (2022-2024)
Shannon R. (2022-2024) Programming Lead
Isaac J. (2022-2024)
James T. (2023-2024)
Walter P. (2024)