The Regional Planning Committee (RPC) works to strengthen and support our local FIRST® community, with a specific focus on the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) program and the Greater Pittsburgh Regional (GPR) competition. Please contact any RPC member below if you have any questions about FIRST® or the region’s activities.
| Daphne Frownfelter, Regional Director, Pennsylvania, Chief State Advocate, FIRST |
| Daphne has been involved with FIRST for several years as an operational representative, working closely in Western PA with our FIRST Tech Challenge Program Delivery Partner. She has also mentored FIRST Robotics Competition teams and has been a volunteer at the FIRST Championship in St. Louis for many years. Daphne’s role as Regional Director is to support the Program Delivery Partners in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Delaware, as well as direct the Greater Pittsburgh Regional FIRST Robotics Competition Event in the Western & Central Pennsylvania Region. Daphne’s role as Chief State Advocate is to further develop relationships with key state government members, policy leaders, and staff who help us to continue the mission of FIRST. |
| Ashleigh Arabia, Regional Planning Committee Chair |
| Ashleigh has been involved with FIRST since 2009 when she unexpectedly joined her school’s FRC team and loved the environment. She returned the following year as a volunteer; eventually having the opportunity to volunteer in not only the Pittsburgh regional but several Canadian Regionals. After getting re-involved with the Pittsburgh regional in 2022, she wanted to be more involved than just volunteering once a year, and joined the planning committee where she is now planning committee chair. Ashleigh is an administrative assistant in Pittsburgh and believes in what FIRST can do for children from all backgrounds. She truly believes that this program is more than robots and with the right planning and organization, we can provide a great regional for kids to succeed in all areas. |
| Sarah Withee, Volunteer Coordinator |
| Sarah is a polyglot software engineer and manager, international public speaker, mentor, and hardware and robot tinkerer located in Pittsburgh, PA. She is passionate about the intersection of technology and people. She has been involved in the FIRST Robotics program since 2011 when she started mentoring two FIRST Lego League Challenge teams in her hometown of Kansas City, MO. Since then, she’s mentored a FIRST Tech Challenge team in KC, judged 5 FIRST Tech Challenge tournaments, moved to Pittsburgh, mentored a FIRST Robotics Competition and four FIRST Tech Challenge teams there, and joined the Pittsburgh Regional Planning Committee where she eventually became volunteer coordinator. You’ll see her frequently interrupted on Zoom calls by her two giant, extroverted, human-loving cat brothers. |
| Bob Atkins, FIRST Senior Mentor |
| Bringing over a decade of experience in engineering project management, telecommunications, and business development, he serves as a Senior Mentor at FIRST Inspires and a Robotics Youth Mentor/Administrator for the Mon Valley Mammoths. Bob’s passion lies in advancing STEM education and nurturing a culture of innovation among young learners, particularly in economically disadvantaged communities. Throughout his career, he has successfully spearheaded various initiatives, including building a wireless network across the southeast and part of the executive team that lead a company to go public, raising nearly 1 billion dollars in just 5 years. In his current role, he harnesses his expertise in project engineering, business development, and networking to drive the success of the FIRST programs and Mon Valley Mammoths. By expanding their partnerships with industry leaders and policymakers, they have secured crucial resources to support their endeavors. Through unwavering dedication to learning and innovation, they are molding a new generation of tech-savvy individuals poised to excel in a rapidly evolving technological landscape. |
| Maggie Joseph, Content Curator / Social Media Tinkerer, Referee |
| Maggie has been involved with FIRST Western and Central Pennsylvania since 2006. She spent all four years of high school on Team 1708 – Amp’d Robotics, and after graduating in 2009, she has continued to stay involved as a volunteer. Maggie has filled various roles since 2009, like Lead Queuer, VC-in-Training, Judge, and sitting in at Pit Admin, but has spent the majority of her time as a Referee. You may find Maggie at kick-off events, off-season events, or generally assisting anywhere that she can. Maggie studied Robotics and Industrial Technology Management at Penn West California. Her career background is in IT in various industries including rail and health, working on applications as a user-focused requirements gatherer, process improvement guru, and fun finder. As the lead on her department’s newsletter, she finds any opportunity to showcase what people are accomplishing both personally and professionally! |
| JonDarr V.T. Bradshaw, Game Announcer |
| JonDarr is a veteran Game Announcer (GA) and Trainer with more than 23+ years of FIRST volunteer experience. During his FIRST career, he has served as the featured play-by-play GA at over than 55 off-season tournaments, 52 FRC Regional Tournaments, and 14 FIRST Championship events. JonDarr is a 2-time recipient of a FRC Regional “Volunteer of the Year” award, and a recipient of the 2017 CORI “Spirit Award. ” He currently serves on the planning committees for the Greater Pittsburgh Regional, the Buckeye Regional, and the Curiosity Open Robotics Challenge. |
| Russ Smith, Judge |
| Russ earned Chemical Engineering degrees from Virginia Tech and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, followed by over three decades working in the chemical industry. This may explain his special interest in robots that have tubes. He has been involved in FIRST Western and Central PA and several other regionals since. Following his retirement several years ago, he has increased his involvement with FIRST and it has reaffirmed his belief that this program can provide excitement, motivation, and understanding in STEM. |
| Norm Kerman, Pit Admin Supervisor Extraordinaire |
| Norm graduated with an engineering degree from the University of Pittsburgh and retired from Duquesne Light Company after 37 years of service. In 1997, Duquesne Light was one of the sponsors of the Schenley High School FIRST Robotics team where he was a volunteer mentor. After leaving Duquesne Light, he taught one year at Schenley High School and then moved to Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Academy as the Director of the summer RoboCamp for middle school students and assistant director of the FIRST Lego League (FLL) Competition where he helped grow the program from 32 local teams to over 70. Although he is no longer the Director of FLL, he still actively volunteers as a referee. When FIRST started the FIRST Robotics Competition in Pittsburgh, he was elected to, and served as, the first Volunteer Coordinator by a vote of 1-0 with one abstention (his own). Norm held the VC position for two years before moving to Pit Admin Supervisor and has tirelessly served in this position ever since. It is a position he absolutely loves: “I get to interact with all of the coaches and team members on a regular basis. I am world renowned for my intelligence, my extreme good looks, and my sense of humor.” |
| Jenna Mollica, FTA |
| Jenna has been involved in the FIRST Robotics Competition since 2011. She is an alumna of FRC Team 2590 Nemesis from Robbinsville, New Jersey. She has been volunteering since in 2015 across Pennsylvania and New Jersey and has volunteered in multiple roles involving Robot Inspector, Judge, Scorekeeper, Lead Robot Inspector, and FIRST Technical Advisor. Even in moving to Pittbsurgh, she is still involved in FIRST Mid-Atlantic and continues to volunteer their events throughout the season. She became involved with the Greater Pittsburgh Regional starting in 2022. Based on her time in FIRST, she pursued a career in engineering after high school. She went to Drexel University in Philadelphia and graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Jenna currently works as a Control Systems Engineer for Thermo Systems. Jenna is one of the newer members of the Regional Planning Committee and has really enjoyed her time working with the planning committee over the last few years. She plans to continue to work the committee to make the regional the best it could possibly be. |
Committee Members-At-Large
These volunteers serve as Regional Planning Committee advisors/consultants and help out where we may most need it at the time. Most are FIRST alumni and/or have volunteered for FIRST for many years.
- Vivian Servey
- Elizabeth Kysel
- Tom Zawislak
If you have interest in joining the Regional Planning Committee, Contact Us!