Francisco (Frank) Lima attended high school at LASA (Liberal Arts and Science Academy) in Austin, TX, where he was a member and a leader of LASA’s Robotics Team for four years. During his senior year at LASA, the LASA Robotics Team, under Frank’s technical leadership, won first place in the state-wide robotics competition FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology).

Frank is currently a mechanical engineering student at UT Dallas and he continues his passion for robotics as a participant of the Dreamer Project of the Human Centered Robotics Laboratory at UT Austin (http://www.me.utexas.edu/~hcrl). For the last two consecutive years, Frank worked as a teacher and mentor for under-served high school students interested in robotics in Austin; and last year, he started the first FLL (FIRST Lego League) after-school robotics team under the sponsorship of YMCA of Austin.

Together, Frank has over 6 years of experience working with robotics and technology, and 3 years of experience teaching robotics to middle and high school students. Frank’s learning and teaching experiences have convinced him that student-lead, project-based learning with a focus on independent problem-solving is the most effective way to teach concepts and skills that are fundamental to achieving success in our modern technological world.