Fabrication Mentor, Dr. Jeff Santrock PhD is a chemist retiree from General Motors. He joined the team as a mentor in 2011, the same year his son joined. Mr. Santrock has been one of our most involved mentors, present at every competition, and always helping the team to build better 'bots.
Mr. Rigotti
Mentor, Matthew Rigotti is a retired project manager at Hella Electronics. He led development teams that designed and launched new products. What he would like to impart in the Gearheads is an understanding that everything they do can either add or detract value from the team
Mr. Howes
Controls Mentor, Jack Howes is a retired engineer and manager from General Motors. He mostly contributes with the controls sub team. He first began mentoring in 2015, and he continues to mentor because as he says, "I like working with first because it seems like a win for everyone involved." He contributes to the FIRST community by volunteering as a robot inspector at FIRST competitions.
Social Media Mentor, Michelle Bridges is a cosmetologist with a media & marketing background. Michelle was a Gearhead Team member from 2014-2018. Michelle worked on the media team, contributing to Gearhead Gazzette, Website, and Social Media posts. She was frequently our team member who fulfilled volunteer requirements for competitions, helping as a Field Reset, Field Maintenance, and Robot Inspection Volunteer at FIRST Competitions.
Mentor, Eric Kam is an engineer working as Product Marketing and Community Manager for ESI Group, a computer simulation and engineering software company. He works with a variety of industries applying virtual reality simulation software for engineering and design validation.
KAM
Faculty Advisor, Jack Pierick is a Math Teach at Grosse Pointe North High School. Mr. Pierick has degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Secondary Education from Wayne State University specializing in Math. We are pleased that he stepped up to be the faculty advisor of the Gearheads in this his first year teaching at Grosse Pointe North, his Alma Mater, Class of 2010.
Nick
Build Mentor, Nick Santrock is a Gearhead's alumni who graduated Grosse Pointe North in 2015, and has been involved with the team since he joined in 2011. He currently works as a mechanic at a local auto repair shop. As build mentor, he hopes to help the students apply the theoretical knowledge learned in classes to real world scenarios and gain hands-on experience with complex integrated systems.
Mr. Hays
Build Mentor, Steve Hays is an Intellectual Property Attorney with Howard & Howard. He began mentoring when his son, Robert, was team captain. He enjoyed helping out and interacting with kids and their families, this led him to stay on as a build mentor even after his son's graduation. He fosters a friendly and encouraging environment in the Gearheads shop, hoping to continue inspiring students to work on innovative projects.
Media Mentor, Jeff Behringer is an IT Team Lead and "Red Team" Technical Writer at The Ford Motor Company. He works with the Media Team to create, refine, and deliver content for the teams website, social media, and FIRST Robotics documentation. He has been actively supporting and mentoring the team, where his son Drew is the 2024 team captain.
Mr. Behringer
Mr. Rogers
Controls Mentor, Mike Rogers is a retiree from the GM research and development labs as a research technician. He works in electronics and instrumentation. He hopes to help our controls group with the code and the hardwiring on the robot. He is also a '75 graduate of Grosse Pointe North.