Our Team
Meet the hardworking individuals behind RoboPhantoms
Harsh Desai
Build
Hello, my name is Harsh Desai. I am 15 years old and go to Stephen F Austin High School. I am in the 9th grade. Some hobbies I have are playing tennis and designing mechanical devices. I have always had a passion for robotics since I always thought it was cool to build robots and compete against other teams. Building while collaborating with your team is a fun process, even if not a lot of fun. I also enjoy the problems we have to maneuver through and how to make our robot better.
Dhruv Shah
Build / Design
Hello, my name is Dhruv Shah. 15 years old. I am in William B Travis High School in 9th grade. I enjoy learning new things about technology and exploring different items in that field. I always enjoyed robotics and participated in any robotics opportunities at my school. My hobbies include football, tennis, and music. I have learned a lot from FTC and am very glad that I am part of a great team.
Kavin Sankaran
Head of Software
Hello, my name is Kavin Sankaran. I am 15 years old and go to William B Travis High School. I am in 9th grade. Some hobbies that I enjoy doing is playing soccer and coding. I have always thought that robotics was cool. Having to build, code, and design is a lot of work, but also a great experience.
Kayan Patel
Design
Hi, my name is Kayan Patel, and I am a 15 year old sophomore at Stephen F. Austin High School. I am a Life rank Boy Scout working toward earning my Eagle Scout rank. This is my third year participating in FIRST Tech Challenge, and I currently serve as the team’s Head Designer. My interest in FTC began with my love for building and designing things, especially with Lego's, and was further inspired by my cousins who competed in FRC. Through FTC, I have gained hands-on engineering experience, strengthened my problem-solving skills, and learned the importance of teamwork while helping design and build our robot.
Aarin Mehta
Build
Hello, my name is Aarin Mehta. I am 14 years old, go to Sartartia Middle School, and am in 8th grade. Some of my hobbies are playing the violin, tennis, chess, swimming, and basketball. I am passionate about learning programming languages such as Python, Arduino, and Java. I was inspired to join the FIRST program by spectating FTC competitions. I enjoyed watching robots compete and looking at the various types of robots. Before I joined FTC I have done Destination Imagination and had the opportunity to attend Global Finals. I enjoy building as well working on the mechanical aspects of the robot.
Krishaan Desai
Program Team
Hello, my name is Krishaan Desai, and I am a fourteen-year-old eighth-grade student at The Village School. I have always been passionate about computers and technology. I strive to deepen my understanding of this field and continue building my skills while collaborating and competing with others who share similar interests. I am particularly interested in robotics and computer science because of their potential to shape the future. I enjoy coding applications that can help people and improve everyday life.
Aarvi Thota
Outreach
Hi, my name is Aarvi Thota. I'm 12 years old and currently in 7th grade at Sartartia Middle School. My hobbies are playing the violin, volleyball, biking, reading, and doing creative activities like designing presentations on Canva. I enjoy participating in STEM activities and challenges. In the past, I competed in Destination Imagination in both Technical and Engineering challenges, and I've been participating in the Science Fair for the past three years. I'm also part of the Girls Who Code club, where I'm learning new technologies and skills. I'm curious and always want to learn about how to build and program robots. I'm very excited to be part of the Robo Phantoms FTC team.
Sanjana Ganglani
Outreach
Hello, my name is Sanjana Ganglani. I'm 12 years old and currently a 7th grader at Sartartia Middle School. My hobbies include playing the viola, volleyball, and reading. From a young age, I've been fascinated by robotics, and I'm eager to continue expanding my knowledge in areas such as coding and engineering through FTC. In previous years, I competed in Destination Imagination, where my team ranked among the top 10 at Global Finals. I have also participated in science fair which allowed me to further explore STEM.
Our Coaches
Guiding and mentoring our team to success
Mr. Paresh Desai
Engineering & Technical Development Coach
Guiding our technical development and engineering excellence
Mr. Tejas Mehta
Outreach, Operations, and Team Development Coach
Leading outreach initiatives and team growth