Student Spotlight: Noe Servellon

Robotics Club President Noe Servellon is busy in the El Camino College robotics shop these days, working with other members to prepare for college competitions while juggling a full class schedule as an engineering major.

Competition robots are made from scratch, including programming that allows them to operate under preset commands. The shop is stocked with equipment from other projects they can repurpose and reuse. If a specialty piece is needed, no worries; Servellon brought in his 3D printer and can fabricate additional components.

"Making our own parts and finding new ways to make things work is part of engineering," he said. "When you run out of sprockets – or anything – you have to take care of it, even if it means making your own."

Servellon got his start in robotics several years ago, creating Lego robots and handmade drones from scratch. To fund his hobby, he used to scour the swap meet for items he could dismantle for parts, then make new drones to sell for profit. He enjoys being a part of this relatively new field because he believes it offers career flexibility due to the wide variety of companies that use robotics.

"I like the fact that you can fit robotics into anything," said Servellon, who plans to transfer to a university to major in robotics engineering. "Soon, positions will open up in every industry where robotics will be part of the operating systems. And I like being an engineer. Engineering makes things better by fixing problems that are already there and solving other problems before they happen."