Kincade Burroughs Email & Phone Number

It all started with a funny robot slipping on a banana peel.https://youtu.be/hsLJdpjSJcM?si=hvJo4M1NQZ4vveWR  After watching the video, I laughed hysterically. This hilarity soon shifted into curiosity. I researched the robot and soon came across this YouTuber, Michael Reeves. He and a group of friends bought the same type of Boston Dynamics robot dog, Spot, that appeared in the viral video to test its capabilities. Soon after, Spot became their robot butler. Reeves’ videos were not only entertaining, but they also nourished my fascination with robotics. I began to tirelessly watch his videos as he explained the building process. Despite the entertainment factor of the videos and concepts applied, his robots were essentially useless. However, curiosity led me to delve into the different aspects of computers and robotics on my own.Initially, I began building and troubleshooting computers. I remember in 9th grade when I had finally saved up enough money to build a new PC. At first, when I put it together, it began smoking. It turns out I had scratched the motherboard while screwing in the CPU cooler. Regardless, I got a replacement board, and everything else worked perfectly fine. Next thing you know, my brother wanted a PC, so I built his. Then my friend’s PC was having problems, so I fixed his. And the journey began.In 10th grade, I decided to redirect my passion towards VEX robotics. I honed my Python skills by creating autonomous and driver-controlled programs for the bot. I also helped with designing the robot and researching possible designs.In 11th grade, I not only continued to participate in VEX as the lead programmer for my team, but I also joined SkillsUSA. That year, I won 2nd place in the state for computer programming. I had to create a program in Python to compare two car prices based on many attributes.In 12th grade, I became the club treasurer for both SkillsUSA and Mu Alpha Theta (Math honor society). These positions not only tested my planning abilities but also my interpersonal skills. I have had to make speeches, plan fundraisers, orchestrate meetings, and more. I simultaneously took on a math tutoring job and internship, which also improved my soft and technical skills.The past few years of high school have greatly nourished my love for computers. I was blessed with the opportunity to attend North Point High School, where I could take numerous programming and IT classes. I only hope to embrace these passions at UMD and eventually land a job as an embedded systems or robotics engineer.