Patricia DePra, Regional Director – Western PA

Patricia DePra was born and raised in southwestern PA, and is a Juniata College alum with a Ph.D. in chemistry from Northwestern University. Her experience includes industrial research, human resources and communications, management, teaching college-level organic and biochemistry (received tenure, Westfield State College), and collaborative science education grants. Patricia chaired two American Chemical Society Local Sections, and has enjoyed leading and working with volunteers from industry and academia at numerous events.

“I’d been seeking a position in which I can integrate my creativity and enthusiasm with my management experience in a way that is fresh, energizing, and helps to improve lives. Working with FIRST provides tremendous opportunities to do this. And I feel doubly fortunate to be with FIRST right here in Pittsburgh!”

Contact Patricia

Shannon Plesh, Volunteer Coordinator

Shannon received her master’s degree in criminal justice administration at Point Park University and currently works as a manager at Citizens Financial Group. She is working towards certification in fraud examination. In her spare time, she participates in National Novel Writing Month and is training to run her first marathon. She currently lives in Providence Rhode Island with her Husband.

Contact Shannon

Ali Marinari, Volunteer Coordinator

Ali first became involved with FIRST in 2003 as a student member, and later a team leader, of national award-winning Team 341, Miss Daisy. She is currently a junior at the University of Pittsburgh, studying Political Science and Economics, and has been volunteering at the regional and national level since 2008 and volunteering with FLL since 2003.

Contact Ali

Sarah Douglas, Judges Coordinator

Sarah Douglas began her FIRST adventure in 2005 as the advisor to team 1743, guiding them to become the Regional Champions and then onto the FIRST Championship in Atlanta. Sarah has served as a Pittsburgh Regional judge for the past 5 years and loves the spirit of gracious professionalism that FIRST brings to students. She is currently an Instructional Designer for IBM working at the Department of Energy Lab in Morgantown, WV.

Michael Klanica, FIRST Senior Mentor

Michael Klanica was first introduced to FIRST in 2005 by Sarah Douglas and team 1743. His experience continued as he became 1743′s mentor for the 2007 and 2008 competitions. In 2008, Mike left City High for a teaching position at St. Joseph High School and to be closer to home for the birth and adoption of his son, Brady. Introducing competitive robotics to St. Joes, the school, along with PTC, formed FRC Team 3062, Spartan Robotics. That team went on to finish 2nd after the qualifying rounds at the 2009 Pittsburgh Regional, capturing the Highest Rookie Seed and Rookie All-Star awards and a trip to Championship Event in Atlanta. He continued the FIRST mission for two more years before leaving St. Joes after the 2010/2011 school year.

Mike’s pre-FIRST experiences consisted of two tours of duty with IUP, resulting in bachelor’s degrees in Applied Mathematics/Applied Computer Science and Secondary Mathematics Education. Following his first tour, Mike spent five years working as a web developer before returning to IUP for his teaching degree. He has taught high school courses in mathematics, computer programming, web design and applications, robotics, and engineering.

Contact Mike