North Side robotics team boosted by PFW presence

As soon as he walked into the room, Drew Clem, a Purdue University Fort Wayne senior majoring in electrical engineering, got hit with about five questions from the North Side High School students who were waiting for his arrival. As mentor of the Legends’ robotics team, instead of getting anxious or overwhelmed, Clem just smiled, clapped his hands, and started answering. He was totally comfortable and in his element.

“One thing I like about Drew is the way he explains things is very easy to comprehend and grasp,” North Side senior Thang Khual said. “Even if it’s something you are not very familiar with, he’ll explain it in a way you can understand it right away. It’s a lot more fun when you understand what you are doing.”

As North Side teacher Dennis Fisher said, Clem started helping the team two years ago when help was desperately needed. Up until that point, Fisher was guiding the group all by himself. Students who were there before and after Clem’s arrival have also noticed the positive impact he’s had on the team.  

“The reason Drew is so good as a mentor, especially for our team, is that when we were running around at the start of last year, we were a shambling mess,” junior Devin Masic said. “Once Drew joined us as a mentor, he helped pick up the pieces and helped all of us build a proper robot. He is so outgoing; he makes sure everyone is involved in working on the bot.”

Clem has seen all of this before. When Clem was a high school freshman in Brownsburg, fellow marching band student Jon Heidegger suggested Clem join the school’s FIRST Robotics Competition team.

“I fell in love with it early,” Clem said. “I was very lucky in that sense.”

Fast forward a few years and he’s now a member of PFW’s Chapman Scholars Program, a member of the Honors Program, a Top 50 honoree, co-leader of the LEAD Mentor Program in the College of Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science, and organizer of the recently initiated Purdue FIRST Programs Fort Wayne. As Clem says, he doesn’t like to sit around and do nothing.

“If I wasn’t doing something in engineering, I think I would be doing something in music—but realistically, it was all through Jon,” Clem said. “He helped inspire me and kept me going because there were times I didn’t want to keep doing it. Without him, I have no idea what I’d be doing and can’t even imagine it.”

As a mentor for the 9119 Iron Legends at North Side, Clem helps guide the team to building a 4-foot-by-4-foot, 125-pound welded aluminum chassis robot they compete with throughout the area. Clem meets with the club for 4–5 hours weekly, answering questions and providing reassurance.

But his influence is more than that. Clem loves the interaction with the students, building friendships and relationships, and helping them push to find their paths by possibly considering studying STEM in college. Clem says he fills a big brother role, teaching them how to use tools, build the chassis, and help set up and conduct competitions. He also does a lot of listening, providing advice at the right moment and being a consistent presence.

“I feel like I’ve certainly made some level of impact on certain people,” Clem said. “I think I have inspired some of the students on the robotics team. It’s been really cool to see how some of them have been more willing after just a year of working with them to step up and be a little more out of their shell and take a leadership position.”

Clem said he knows those lessons will last because the FIRST program culture digs in deep and is not easily forgotten.

“I generally want to make the community around me better for the next generation,” Clem said.

That’s why he’s taken on the role of starting the new PFW club, to encourage students to reach out and help local high school and middle school clubs like he has at North Side. More than 30 people have already shown interest, and there’s a big need for this kind of support at schools throughout northeast Indiana.

Email Clem at [email protected] to learn more.