Michael Keim’s Testimonial

“Today I work as an Astrophysicist at Yale University, observing the collisions of galaxies with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, the Dragonfly Telescope my team built in New Mexico, and a variety of telescopes across the globe and in space. My work involves controlling robotic telescopes, writing code to process data, analyzing that data using physics and numerical models, and writing about our findings in scientific journals (such as a Nature paper we recently published: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04665-6). I almost always work with a team of other scientists and mentor younger students working on similar projects. The ability to work hard on scientific problems, with a team of friends, communicate my findings to other scientists, and pass my knowledge on to other students are all key to the job, and skills that I learned in 2468.

Dedication
The most important impact of FIRST and 2468 was showing me how dedication can lead to incredible rewards. FIRST games are exciting but require months of hard work - long days coding, building, and writing. FIRST not only demonstrates the fun side of science but how dedication over long periods can pay off on the game day. That’s very similar to my work today, where we might work on a science project for years.

Teamwork
FIRST taught me to work together with a team of friends to face daunting challenges. This is a particularly unique and powerful experience on 2468, where our Coach, who previously coached a basketball team, well utilized his experience in getting students to work together and motivating students, particularly using inspirational “game-day” speeches. Teamwork is a critical skill in the professional world and one that students who do not participate in traditional sports may miss out on. That was the case with me - I never was any good at sports, so 2468 was my first real experience being on a team.

Communication
FIRST improved my ability to communicate. This skill was most critical when sharing our work with judges in the pit, during presentations, and through submitted essays. However, it extended beyond that as we coordinated match plans and alliance pairings with students on other teams and explained our excitement for STEM to parents and volunteers, as well as outreach events attendees. In a literal sense, my current paycheck comes from writing about my STEM projects in science publications and presenting my work at various talks, very similar to my role in 2468.Gracious Professionalism
My first impression of 2468 was as an FTC student visiting the pits at the 2012 Rebound Rumble FRC regional in San Antonio, where I was amazed by how 2468 members were in other pits fixing their competitor’s robots. The next year as an FRC student I came to find this is a trait 2468 shares with several other exemplary FIRST teams. As a scientist, the goal is simply to find new things about how our universe works. This is generally done through collaboration with professors at other universities, not through bitter rivalries - just as in FIRST. That’s why I regularly work with collaborators at Harvard, Princeton, Toronto, Leiden, the Max Planck Institute, and many other top institutions - rather than isolating ourselves, we work together to get data, process it, and learn how galaxies form and evolve, just like how 2468 works together with other teams to get a plethora of fun, functioning robots on the field leading to an exciting game day.

Mentorship
During my time on 2468, we began mentoring several BEST and FLL teams, helping them learn to design, build robots, and present their work to others. This was in addition to an internal mentorship program where senior students passed on skills to younger students. In my position successful mentorship of undergraduates is critical due to the profound effects research activities can have on their careers. Since mentorship is a skill that one must learn over time, such experiences as part of 2468 were a great first step in my career path.

General
2468 is an incredible program that feels like a sports team, science class, and a family wrapped into one. The bonds I made in that program last until today, and I look back fondly on my time on the team, when the world was out there for the taking. We were on a righteous mission, going from elementary school to elementary school showing off our robots and explaining how fun STEM can be. A FIRST competition is a magical experience that is, unfortunately, unique. My first year was our first regional win and first chairman’s award. We were a fast-growing program then, not exactly small but nothing compared to today. Watching 2468 grow to mentor more teams, move facilities, and take its impact to a magnitude of different levels since I graduated in 2014 has been a great pleasure.” - Michael Keim

Thank you for your contribution to the program during your time on the team, Michael! We loved hearing about your experience on the team and how it impacts your current life!