Team

JJ Siu

Captain | Software

Hi, I am JJ Siu and I am 17 years old. Currently I am an 11th grader at Westview. I have been in FIRST programs for the last 8 years. I enjoy FTC because I really enjoy doing things involving STEM. Now that I am on Gear Up, I enjoy helping programming the robot and helping with adjusting the design of the robot. I am a driver and a programmer. Some things I like to do in my free time is to play tennis, I like to help with Audio/Visual stuff for worship and serve at my church, CEC. My favorite aspect of FTC is to program the robot.

Justin Wu

Captain | Software

Hi! My name is Justin Wu, and I’m a junior at Westview High School. This is my third year as a member of team 12499 Gear Up. Other than co-captaining the team with JJ, I mostly help out with the software aspect of our robot, from experimenting with new methods to fine-tuning programs before competitions. Outside of robotics, I enjoy studying competitive programming and playing cello. I’ve learned a lot through FTC in the past two years, and I am excited to continue to grow with the team in coming seasons.

Zubin Cheruvallath

CAD/3D Printing | Driving

Hi, my name is Zubin Cheruvallath. I am a 16 year old junior at Westview highschool and the Chief of Computer Aided Design and a driver for team 12499 Gear Up. I have participated in FIRST for eight years, starting with Jr. FLL and three years of FLL. This is my fourth year competing in FTC. I enjoy doing anything that includes technology and the way things work. I am a huge fan of Lego, gaming, and watching TV and movies. I also enjoy learning about cars and how to make them more powerful.

Andrew Chu

CAD/3D Printing | Software

My name is Andrew Chu, and I am a 16 year old junior at Westview High School. My focuses within 12499 Gear Up are software and computer-aided design. This is my first year competing in FTC, and I am excited to participate. In my free time, I enjoy using Blender for 3D modeling and watching movies and TV shows. I look forward to learning more about robotics and coding as part of this team.

Sophie Duan

CAD/3D Printing | Mechanical Design

Hello, my name is Sophie Duan. I am currently sixteen and a junior at Westview High School. This is my first year as a member of 12499 Gear Up. However, I have previously been in the FIRST program a few times several years ago. I joined FTC because I want to learn how to apply concepts into real life scenarios. Outside of robotics, I enjoy doing art, both digital and traditional, and dance. I look forward to learning and developing my skills as part of this team.

Maya Hsu

Project Management

My name is Maya Hsu. This is my seventh year in the FIRST program and my fifth in FTC. I am currently a junior at Westview High School and I am seventeen. Along with being the project manager of the team, I contribute in designing and constructing the robot. I joined FIRST because I was interested in engineering a robot and seeing technology come to life. My brother, Tai, is also on the FTC team. Outside of FIRST, I participate in extracurricular activities such as Speech and Debate, tutoring, Japanese, and swim team. I enjoy working on the robot with my team and cooperating with my team.

Tai Hsu

CAD/3D Printing | Driving | Mechanical Design

My name is Tai. I started FIRST in third grade, doing one year of Jr. FLL, three years of FLL, and this year is my fourth year of FTC. I am a junior and seventeen years old. I attend Westview High School along with all of the other team members. My specialty is building and driving. I also know how to play various instruments such as the alto and baritone saxophone, and the piano. I joined FIRST because I wanted to learn more about robotics.

Nathan Mun

Finance

Hi, I am Nathan Mun and I am a junior at Westview High School. I play the clarinet in the Westview Gold program, the Civic Youth Orchestra, and my church. I also enjoy playing and learning about chess in my free time. This is my first year in the FIRST program. I joined the FIRST program because I enjoy learning about technology and how it works. I am looking forward to building and developing robots with my friends on the team.

Richard Tseng

Outreach

My name is Richard Tseng and I am seventeen years old. I am an 11th grader who attends Westview High School. On the team, I am a head outreach and scouting. Outside of FTC, I enjoy listening to music, drawing, playing volleyball, and playing the violin. The reason I joined FIRST was that I had an interest in robots and wanted to know how they worked. I am interested in the mechanisms that run robots. I started in FLL, which I found very interesting, and moved up to FTC after a few years when I joined team Gear Up. I enjoy FIRST because it gives me the opportunity to work on robots with my friends.

Miles Lin

Software

My name is Miles Lin and I’m in 9th grade at Westview. I am also in the Westview Gold program, playing percussion. On this team, I focus on the software and implementing new technologies into the robot.

Liam Doran

Alex Hsu

I am Coach Alex Hsu. Legos were my favorite toy growing up (and still are!), which led me to become involved in Junior FLL when my twin children were in 3rd grade, starting in 2013. In 2014-2016 I helped mentor them and their friends through three seasons of FLL. After several challenging, successful, and fun filled years of FLL, we embarked onto the next stage in FTC in 2017. For the past 10 years, I have been a physician in the Southern California Permanente Medical Group, working as a radiologist for Kaiser Permanente in San Diego, California.

Bill Doran