Our Team

The team was founded in 2018, and we have been growing ever since!

ISABELLA

VESELY

Team Captain Isabella is a senior at Phillips Exeter. She first developed an interest for robotics from a self-started LEGO Mindstorms program, and throughout middle school, she participated in MATE’s ROV competition and was an active part of the FLL, FTC, and FRC teams. She looks forward to fueling her interest for both mechanical design and outreach!

DEBORAH

ANG

Mechanical Lead Deborah is currently a junior at Phillips Exeter, originally from San Jose, California. She first participated in FLL in 4th grade, and has since been an active part of many FLL and FTC teams as a member and coach. As the mechanical lead on VERTEX, she hopes to continually improve her leadership and teamwork and looks forward to continuing her robotics career at Exeter!

TANISH

TYAGI

Programming Lead Tanish is a junior at Phillips Exeter. This is his second year with VERTEX robotics, and at his previous school, he was part of the VEX team where they qualified for the world championships. He is passionate about using deep learning to innovate in the field of neuroscience. Tanish is excited to delve deeper into the field of robotics at VERTEX!

CHARLES

POTJER

Community Outreach Lead Charles is a junior at Phillips Exeter from St. Paul, Minnesota. As his second year on the team — and his second year involved with robotics and FTC — he serves as the community outreach lead. This year, he’s looks forward to continuing to share his love of STEM with the Exeter community.

CELINE

TAN

CHRO, Outreach Coordinator Celine is a twelfth grader at Phillips Exeter. During her first year, she worked primarily on Computer Aided Design and the Engineering Notebook. This year, Celine's looking forward to expanding the scope of VERTEX’s outreach activities. She’s grateful for the opportunity to spread her love of everything FIRST to the larger community.

AVANINDER

BHAGHAYATH

Programming Member Avaninder is a freshman at Phillips Exeter Academy, where he works on machine learning and web development. He was a part of FTC since middle school, and loves working with his team to build and program robots! He will continue to work on making machine learning more accessible.

TEDDY

DUNCKER

Mechanical Member, Director of Athletics Teddy is a sophomore at Phillips Exeter from Durham, North Carolina. He has participated in FIRST since 6th grade, attending multiple state and international tournaments. This is his second year on VERTEX, and he spends most of his time on the team working in CAD. Teddy also enjoys building electronics for guided rockets and playing soccer.

CHANEY

HOLLIS

Outreach Coordinator, Programming Member Chaney is a senior at Phillips Exeter Academy from Orlando, Florida. She enjoys electrical engineering and making STEM more accessible for underrepresented communities. This is her second year competing in FIRST robotics and is excited to continue spreading STEM values.

BYRAN

HUANG

Programming Member Byran is a sophomore at Phillips Exeter, from Princeton, New Jersey. He first participated in FLL in 5th grade, and is excited to continue in FIRST with VERTEX. Byran enjoys when the code works first-try, and strongly dislikes merge conflicts. He spends his free time making electronic human interface devices, 3D graphics design and websites (like this one!).

ERIC

LI

Programming Member Eric is a lower at Exeter. He is a hardcore passionate developer who enjoys using code to engineer creative solutions. Although he has no prior experience with robotics, he is beyond joyful to be a part of the FTC programming team, and hopes to enjoy the merge between hardware and software.

ELI

PRATT

Mechanical Member Eli is currently a sophomore at Phillips Exeter Academy. She grew up in Shanghai, but now lives in New Jersey with her parents and older sister. She first developed an interest in robotics during her freshman year in Shanghai, but she was unable to attend any competitions due to Covid. She is very excited to learn more about using CAD and the process of building a robot!

ALINNE

ROMERO-TORRES

Outreach Coordinator, Mechanical Affiliate Alinne is currently an upper at Exeter and lives in San Antonio, Texas. She was introduced to robotics through FLL and later FRC. On the team, she’s been able to help with CAD and planning outreach events. In her free time she enjoys creating all sorts of things.

BRENDA

ROMERO-TORRES

Outreach Coordinator, Mechanical Affiliate Brenda is an upper at Phillips Exeter from San Antonio, Texas. Previously she participated in FLL and FRC and is excited to continue pursuing robotics with FIRST. On the team she works alongside outreach to plan events and spread STEM. In her free time she enjoys creating along with her twin sister.

RIYA

TYAGI

Outreach Coordinator, Programming Affiliate Riya is a junior at Phillips Exeter. She has extensive experience with outreach and programming through programs and camps she has run over the summer, and is incredibly passionate about educating the community and spreading STEM! Riya is excited to be on the FTC team, and looks forward to bringing the robot to life this year.

ANNIE

VO

Outreach Coordinator, Mechanical Affiliate Annie is a freshman at Phillips Exeter, and is originally from San Jose, California. Having grown up with a love for robotics and a knack for connecting with others, this is her first year with an FTC team as part of both the outreach and mechanical team. If not typing emails away at her computer, you can find her around some power tools in the design lab.