Aulikki Flagan earned a B.S. in Medical Technology at the University of Helsinki, a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a minor in Materials Science at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, a M.A. in Education at California State University, Northridge, and a M.S. in Zoology at Miami University. In 2017, she received the Distinguished Teaching Award Grant from the Fulbright Scholarship Foundation which allowed her to travel to Finland for six months so that she could understand the success of the Finnish education system and see how teachers are trained to motivate students to excel in academics, especially in the sciences. In addition to her extensive schooling, she is a published author with seven research papers to her name in addition to a short book discussing her time observing Finnish teaching methods. Founding the team in 2002, she is the Faculty Administrator and a mentor who oversees all aspects of the team. Mrs. Flagan became a mentor to give girls a chance to participate in science competitions, because she wishes them to take advantage of the opportunities that she never received as a child. In 2016, she was nominated for and became the Woodie Flowers Award Finalist at the San Diego Regional. She enjoys being a mentor, because she likes to interact with students and encourage girls to enter STEM career fields. 

Vincent Yip studied Electrical Engineering at Cal State Long Beach and Cal Poly Pomona. He started to mentor the Ramona Rampage team in 2010 when his eldest daughter, Teresa, joined robotics. Mr. Yip mentors the Build and Electronics Teams as well as helping with developing prototypes. To him, the most fulfilling part of robotics is passing down his knowledge to the students. He enjoys seeing the girls learn and even make mistakes, explaining failure is a learning opportunity. In a world with few female engineers, Mr. Yip would like to see more women in the STEM fields, and he works to help inspire and foster a love of engineering in the robotics students. Currently, he enjoys working as a mentor alongside his daughter, Catherine, another mentor and an alumna of the robotics team. Together, they combine their respective knowledge about electrical engineering and mechanical engineering to better mentor the team.

Catherine Yip attended the University of Rochester where she studied Mechanical Engineering. She is a mentor who helps with mechanical and design areas as well as administrative management. As a mentor, she finds it rewarding to see students working on their tasks and interests, especially when captains efficiently distribute the work and when new members take initiative to get involved. As an engineer and Ramona alumna, Ms. Yip wants other girls to know that nothing is impossible and that pursuing a career in a STEM field is a good opportunity. Ramona Rampage has made an enormous impact on her life, positively affecting her life beyond high school and inspiring her to pursue engineering in college. Even now, being a mentor for Ramona Rampage is changing her life as she continues to learn about students’ needs, tasks, and accomplishments from year to year.

Nelson Garzon earned a B.A. in Electrical Engineering at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) and a M.A. in Electrical Engineering at USC in addition to taking additional programming courses. He mentors the Programming Team, teaching the girls how to program in LabVIEW. Mr. Garzon was encouraged to become a mentor by his daughter who joined the team in 2018. In addition to mentoring the robotics team, he routinely speaks to engineering students from the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers at CSULB and teaches LabVIEW to engineers at his work whenever necessary. Mr. Garzon likes working alongside with Ramona students, seeing all the work and excitement that goes into building a robot. Being a mentor, he feels inspired by the girls’ hard work and dedication.