Interview with Michael Dresser
Michael Dresser
What area of expertise do you bring to GRT?
I am an autonomy engineer at a robotics company where my focus is on simulation and data tools. I bring prior software engineering experience from multiple other companies which ranged in size from six to tens of thousands of engineers. I am also an alumnus of GRT; while on the team I was the lead of our CNC machining and scouting groups.
Where did you get your training/education?
I have a B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Colorado Boulder.
What lead you to mentoring GRT & how long have you mentored GRT?
I was on GRT when I was a student, which eventually led me to consider mentoring. I chose to dedicate my time to GRT because I wanted to help create the same passionate, student-driven learning environment that was available to me; that environment transforms students into amazing engineers, teammates, and friends. GRT's philosophy toward building students is admirable and rare. I have been mentoring the team since the 2023 season—making the experience I had available to others has been deeply rewarding.
What is your favorite GRT experience?
My favorite GRT experience comes from when I was a student in charge of our scouting data analysis. After managing the collection of data from every match, my data crunching led GRT to pick a bottom-seeded team as one of our alliance partners for the playoffs. At the time we made our selection they were in the middle of packing up their pit and preparing to go home. Not only did we make their day by extending their time at the event, we also made a deep run in the playoffs together because their robot's capabilities perfectly complemented ours.