Interview: Cristian Arcega, Robotics Engineer
In this interview, we meet Cristian Arcega, part of the Carl Hayden Community High School Underwater Robotics Team who went on to compete with, and beat, some of the top engineering schools, including MIT. This story was first covered by an article in Wired Magazine, and was then developed into a documentary titled “Underwater Dreams”. This story has resonated with many people and has now been made in a full-length feature film “Spare Parts” starring George Lopez.
Cristian gives us a behind the scenes look into the competition, their preparation, their passion, and how he is dealing with his newfound fame with the media tour for the movie. We also discuss Cristian's status as a “dreamer” and how that has affected his career progression.
Topics Discussed in the Interview:
- How is the media tour going?
- How and why did Cristian get involved with the robotics competition?
- How did Cristian, a self-proclaimed loner, deal with working in a team?
- Behind the scenes thoughts during the competition.
- How Cristian, and the team, prepared their technical documents and presentation
- Cristian's family and friends reaction to his winning the competition
- Cristian's immigration status and the difficulties of being a Dreamer
Mentioned in the Interview:
- Underwater Dreams
- La Vida Robot (Wired Article)
- Spare Parts (Movie):
- Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream
- Crowdismo Campaign
Favorite Smartphone App:
- Google Calendar
Must Read Book Recommendation
Shameless Plug:
Help Cristian go to College!! Donate to Cristian's Crowdfunding Campaign. Please donate what you can so we can all benefit from Cristian's intelligence and talents!
Special thanks to Jose Huitron of Crowdismo, for making this interview happen.