Members

Here are Team Overdrive's members. Below, you'll find pictures of us and short bios telling a bit about us.

Kenny Shotyk

My name is Kenneth Shotyk, and am a Christian, home-educated, senior in high school. My home town is Piscataway, NJ and my siblings consist of 3 sisters, 1 older and 2 younger. Besides the robotics team, I am also part of a Lemelson MIT InvenTeam and a bridge building team. I have enjoyed participating in the invent team, because it gave me a whole new perspective on real world engineering. The bridge building team has also taught me many engineering principles on bridge building specifically. Bridge building has also been a fun experience getting to hang out with other members of Team Overdrive and watching this bridge made out of popsicle sticks come crashing down after holding 462.5 pounds. This year will be my fourth year on a robotics team although before my high school years I hung around team Overdrive as a junior member which got me interested in joining the team in the first place. Outside of the academic world and into my personal life, I am a member of Stonecrest Community Church. There, apart from just attending services, I work with the special needs kids in our children's and youth ministries. I am also a part of a student leadership team in our church which plans events and runs different parts of our youth group. In our youth group, I also lead the junior high small group along with another one of the student leaders, and a friend and I have started a Bible study for kids in Dunellen, NJ. in 2007, I got the chance to go on a missions trip to the Dominican Republic (where my older sister is now a full time missionary) where our team build a church, run two vacation bible schools, brightened the day of children at a children's hospital, and plenty more. Due to the amount of fun I have in the church, going into full time ministry is not out of the question, although an engineering route such as mechanical or civil seems to be my professional direction.

Adrianna Scalzo

Hi! I'm Adrianna Scalzo and I am a Home-Educated Senior in High School. The first two years of Team Overdrive I was a 'junior member' and saw the team win the World Championship in FTC. I was a junior member the member the next two years when the team was in FRC, specializing in transportation and lathing. I was also on Teen Technology's Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam, and was one of the presenters at the EurekaFest. Then when the team returned to FTC last year, I stepped in as the Project manager/ Scouting/whatever needs to be done person, and this year am continuing that trend.
I was introduced to robotics through Ethicon, the company my dad works for. They sponsor FRC team56 Robbe Xtreme and every year for 'Take Your Daughter to Work day' Robbe would bring in their robot as a workshop and let all the kids drive it. My two older sisters and I loved it but thought we would never be able to be on a team since we're homeschooled. so when our mom got an e-mail about this homeschool robotics team starting up, we were thrilled! We checked it out, loved it, and Team Overdrive has been a part of our family ever since!
Besides robotics, I also enjoy playing piano, calligraphy, arguing, cold weather, various genres of music (from synth pop to metal), as well as being part of my Church's Media Team and Children's Ministry. I love flying, and am currently planning on attending Liberty University for a degree in aeronautics with a specialization in Commercial/ Corporate Aviation. I hope to go on to be a Commercial Pilot.
I'm really excited about this year and can't wait to build and compete with another great robot! Go Overdrive!

Matthew Thompson

Hey, I'm Matthew Thompson and I'm a home-educated junior. I love to come to Overdrive meetings and to compete in the competitions. I first joined Team Overdrive last year, finding out about it first through the substitute pastor of my church because he is related to our head coach. I enjoy being apart of the design and build team.
Some other things that I like doing include playing electric and acoustic guitar, working the sound-board at my church, and making 3D models for video games.
I'm interested in engineering, specifically mechanical, but I'm still open to one of the other fields, possibly graphics design.



Kyndra Moser

Hey there! I’m Kyndra Moser, a sixteen year old junior in high school. I’ve been with Team Overdrive since the beginning, although I’ve only been an official member for the past two years. I’m very excited to get this season going strong! Primarily, I focus on the Team’s website, doing most of the graphic art for the team, and I’m hoping to even dabble in RobotC programming a bit this season.
Robotics aside, I enjoy art and creative writing. I plan to major in English, along with a minor in web design or graphics design. I own Photoshop CS5 Extended, which is simply a wonderful program. Along with these interests, I love reading and video games.
Team Overdrive has really been a great experience for me, so I’m really looking forward to another amazing, fantastic, SUPER EPIC season!
Go Overdrive!


Andrew Bartz

Hi, I am Andrew Bartz and I am a home-educated sophomore in high school. For the past three years I have been in FLL. I was a builder/researcher on the Generator Z team. We did really well the first two years and made it to State on our second year. Our third year we ended up completely rebuilding our robot half way through the season which helped us to learn the importance of prioritizing our design.
I was first introduced to FTC by my FFL team coach. She has known coach Scalzo for several years and ended up taking me with her son to a Team Overdrive meeting in which we were introduced to FTC and Team Overdrive. I jumped on the opportunity to join Team Overdrive.
I also enjoy playing guitar, designing things on the computer, and biking. I immensely enjoy building and designing things and plan to become a mechanical engineer.
I'm really excited about this year and can't wait to build and compete with a great robot! Go Overdrive!


Jacob Ueltzhoeffer

Hi, my name is Jacob Ueltzhoeffer and I am a freshman in high school. I've been homeschooled since kindergarten, and I still enjoy it.
This is my first year of FTC and I'm excited about being a part of Team Overdrive!!
I was a member of a FLL team for three years. In those three years we received a Technical Award for our robot design, a Robot Performance Award, and a Champion Award. My role on the team was programming and designing the robot. Other than robotics, I enjoy skiing, hiking, playing video games, and going to the beach.
I'm interested in programming, but I am also interested in other fields such as designing.



Natalie Thompson

Hi, I'm Natalie Thompson, and I am a home-educated high school sophomore.
This is my second year on Team Overdrive. Last year I was head scouter and also helped build the robot. My brother and I loved it last year and are excited about this year. I was introduced to FIRST through our head coach being related to my church's interim pastor. My other interests include reading fantasy novels, using the computer, and anything involving chemistry. I enjoy engineering as we, and I hope to be a chemical engineer, but I am also interested in mechanical engineering.




Cara Scalzo

Hi! I'm Cara Scalzo. I'm 14 and a freshman in high school. I've been homeschooled my whole life. I have three older sisters, who are 17, 19, and 20. My family has been involved with Team Overdrive since it first started up six years ago, and during that time I have helped scout as a junior member. My two oldest sisters have since graduated from high school and are both attending Liberty University. My other sister is a senior and is also on the team this year. I enjoy reading, photography, and art. I also enjoy helping teach at my church. I hope to learn about project management and much more this year on Overdrive. Go Overdrive!




Coach Scalzo

This year is Mr. Scalzo’s second year as the Head Coach for Team Overdrive. The prior past four years, he has volunteered as a mentor for Team Overdrive – FTC team for two years and FRC team for two years. Coach Scalzo is currently a Principal Engineer for Ethicon, a Johnson & Johnson company. In his position he is responsible for design and development of Antibacterial Sutures. He serves as the technical leader for these products, and has also been the project leader. In 2003, he was awarded the Johnson medal for his research work on VICRYL* Plus, the first antibacterial suture. This honor is the highest award given to Research and Development, identifying excellent science and commercial success. Prior to joining Ethicon, he was employed as a Materials Research Engineer for Osteonics/Stryker Corporation. There he helped develop the first FDA approved Hydroxylapatite coated Hip implant. He was also responsible for material research, and development of testing methods. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1982 from the New Jersey Institute of Technology as well as a Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering in 1989 from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He also is an inventor on five US Patents.