Coaches, Mentors, & Boosters

Lead Coach - Vanessa Coronado

Mrs. Coronado has been teaching for 20 years, coaching FRC for 5 years. She enjoys running, skiing, working on her car, storm chasing, and all things nerdy. Mrs. Coronado is very passionate about STEM education, and promoting equity in STEM participation. FIRST robotics is a perfect blend of challenging, engaging, rewarding, STEM experiences for all students.

Lead Coach - David Monroe

Mr. Monroe is the lead computer science teacher at Tomball Memorial and one of our lead coaches for the robotics program. He graduated from Texas A&M University with a Masters in 3D Modeling and Animation and has been teaching for 10 years at TMHS. He enjoys all things programming and circuitry related.

Mentor - Tom Cegielski

Mr. Cegielski has worked for Alfa Laval for 34 years as a technology support engineer managing service operations and has been mentoring for 2 years.

Mentor - Lalit Karlapalem

Mr. Karlapalem graduated from the University of Texas Austin with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering and has worked for NOV for 17 years. This is his first year mentoring our team.

Booster - Debbie Chi

Mrs. Chi has been involved with vector and our food coordinator since its inception in 2019. She is a mom of two, a beagle, and an ex-librarian as well as the COO of her home. It makes her very happy to see the team enjoying a meal together.