When his wife hesitated to take on the daunting task of starting a FIRST team in 2007, Peter Wolfe dispelled her uncertainty immediately. As a chess club president turned software architect, he had spent his life brewing a passion for logic, problem solving, and technology and engineering. He saw FIRST for what it was, an opportunity to spread the core principles of innovation and engineering to an entire community of people. Since then, the Wolfes have created not only a successful and diverse FIRST team, but a driven and dedicated community of students, parents, mentors, and sponsors. His passion for robotics, mentoring, collaboration, and team building inspired hundreds of students, with many more to come.
Team 2590 was born into capable but inexperienced hands. With only a dozen students, Mr. Wolfe took the lead on both software and build, forwarding his cause with nothing but his sharp wit, a contagious enthusiasm for his work, and an unwavering dedication to the team. He walked through the engineering process with his students by day, and poured over forums and tutorials by night in order to feed them a constant stream of ideas. Although he has since gained many years of experience, his thorough and untiring work ethic has not changed. Mr. Wolfe is constantly conversing with students, bouncing ideas around the room and researching new concepts avidly every night. During the first week of build season this year, he read hundreds of Chief Delphi posts while recovering from gall bladder surgery, summarizing his thoughts and emailing them to the team from the hospital. His dedication is infectious, and inspires his team members to put as much of their lives and efforts into their work as he does. His passion for FIRST is as limitless as it is frenzied, spreading quickly throughout the team and creating the best possible environment for innovation.
Mr. Wolfe makes it his duty to aid and empower anyone willing to learn, regardless of age, gender, or team. He works tirelessly to entertain and inspire seven to twelve year old children in the Robotics Discovery Day program. He also encourages female students to step forward and work with pride and confidence in a male-dominated environment. For example, he challenged two freshman girls to compete in the AndyMark Electrical Video Challenge and worked with them tirelessly to secure a well deserved win. He also goes out of his way to encourage Coopertition and help teams from other schools, never hesitating for a second before running to a rival pit and delivering a part or even bringing a team of students to rewire a competitor’s robot.
Mr. Wolfe is the heart and soul of Team 2590. His endless energy and contagious passion inspires every person around him to be the best engineer, student, competitor, and person they can be. His unwavering dedication to FIRST and spreading its values is an inspiration to us all.
Mr. Wolfe is a Senior Software Architect at HP and enjoys playing tennis, volleyball and most racquet sports. In addition to his wife, Joy Wolfe, Technology Teacher at Robbinsville High School, his daughters, Alexandra a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, Computer Science Fine Arts, Erin a graduate of the University of Southern California, Business with a concentration from the Viterbi School of Engineering and Kiera, attending Johns Hopkins University, Writing Seminars were members of the team since it’s inception. Nemesis is truly a family affair.