Meet the Mentors
Head Mentor
Kiley Plooster
She currently works for VRC Metal Systems as an Engineering Program Manager. She is the co-lead mentor for Rapid Acceleration and has been involved with the program since 2015. Kiley also won the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award in 2021.
Head Mentor
Matthew Bunge
Matt currently works for Caterpillar as an Engineering Project Manager. He is the co-lead mentor for Rapid Acceleration and has been involved with the program since 2015.
Chief Mentor Of All Things
Tony Fischer
​Tony currently works for VRC Metal Systems as an Engineering Project Manager. He is the longest standing mentor for the team and is a master of all trades.
Finding Stuff To Do Mentor
Dean Walters
Dean currently works for Caterpillar as a Design Tech. He has been a coach for the FIRST Lego League team since 2016. He joined the FRC team in 2018. If you ever need something to do, go find Dean.
Mechanical Mentor
Jason Sanderson
Jason works at Black Hills Energy as Business Intelligence Manager. Jason has been mentoring the team since 2024. He also has been mentoring the local FTC team 27467, The TechnoWaffles.
Electrical Mentor & Duct Tape Expert
Anthony Taylor
Anthony currently works at Black Hills Energy as a Transmission Planner. He was involved with his robotics team for seasons 2013-2016, and is an alumni of FRC Team 2811.
Mechanical/CADD Mentor
Braden Walters
Braden is a Mechanical Engineering student at the School of Mines and Technology. Braden has worked at CAT for the last 3 years and is an alumnus of the team.
Scouting/Strategy and Impact Mentor
Gretchen Noble
Gretchen is a Mechanical Engineer at South Dakota Mines and alumni of Rapid Acceleration. She was also awarded the DOD SMART Scholarship in 2023 and will be working for NSWC Carderock in structural health Monitoring code, located Bethesda, MD.
Mechanical/CADD adn Strategy Mentor(e)
Cameron Kokesh
Cameron is a graduate of MIT with a degree in Mechanical Engineering as well as an alumni of Rapid Acceleration. 2025 was her rookie year as a mentor and she hit the ground running helping with anything and everything.
Marketing Mentor
Caitlin Gerdes
Caitlin has been a mentor since 2024. She has a degree in Graphic Communications along with a minor in Commercial Art. She is also a Cellist for the Black Hills Symphony.
Programming and Integration Mentor
Kieth Sewart
Kieth has been a mentor since 2025 and works at John Deere Inc. working on autonomy.
Robot Inspection
Carl Hansen
Carl is a retired systems engineer who has been involved with FIRST since 1994. He joined the team in 2016 and has been advising on systems and sensors.
*Honorary Electrical Mentor*
Grace Wilson
Grace graduated from South Dakota Mines with a degree in Electrical Engineering and currently Colorado Springs Utility. She has been the Electrical Mentor for the team since 2016 and is an alumni from team 2996, Cougars Gone Wired.
*Honorary Programming Mentor*
Mathew Clutter
Mat graduated from South Dakota School Mines with a computer science degree in 2023. He was in FLL and alumni of Rapid Acceleration. He currently lives in LA working for SpaceX
*Honorary Scouting / Strategy Mentor*
Gavin Merkle
Gavin is a crew chief with US Air Force. Originally from the St. Louis, MO area, he has been involved with FIRST for the past 6 years. He is alumni from team 1706, the Ratchet Rockers and joined Rapid Acceleration in 2017.