This is the presentation delivered by Fredi Lajvardi on November 18, 2014 at The CETPA 2014 Conference. Fredi Lajvardi began his career as a high school science teacher in 1988 in the Phoenix Union High School district in Arizona. He excelled right from the start, and showed the ability to engage and motivate his students, and challenged them by teaching them about the field of robotics. It soon landed them in national spotlight. After taking their designs to a national underwater robotics competition in 2004, and choosing to compete on the university level as opposed to the high school level, the Carl Hayden Community High School team beat out MIT and a number of other major universities. They placed first, second and third in subsequent years, but bested MIT each year. Their story was first picked up by Wired magazine, and then by other major news organizations. Their story has been made into a major motion picture, Spare Parts with actor and comedian George Lopez starring as Lajvardi. The move is scheduled for release in early 2015. Lajvardi has received numerous awards for his ability as a teacher, including the IEEE National Outstanding Educator for 2005, the Arizona Department of Education Leadership Award for 2006, and the City of Phoenix Outstanding Teacher of the Year each year from 2005 through 2009.

1. Improbable to Unstoppable
Faridodin “Fredi” Lajvardi

2. Faridodin “Fredi” Lajvardi
● Immigrant from Tehran, Iran
● Naturalized in 1984
● Arizona State University
○ BAE General Science
● Currently work
○ Phoenix Union High School District
○ Carl Hayden H.S. 26 years

3. Carl Hayden High School
● Inner city school
● Title I
● Over 90% Hispanic
● Over 90% on federal assistance
● Most students, first in family to graduate H.S.
● Many single parent families
● Many DACA students
● Among lowest standardized test scores in state

4. What I Found….
● Students quick to quit
● English 2nd Language
● No goals
● Low expectations
● College not on the horizon
● Parents not college educated

5. What Seemed To Work
● More time with adults
● Being part of a team
● Identifying goals
● Model problem solving
● Receiving recognition

6. Arcrunner Program
Electric Vehicles
● 1st H.S. in U.S.
● New fundraising
model
● 10 years
● Built 13 race cars
● Pulled in mentors
● Made the news
frequently

7. What It Evolved Into
● Team oriented
● Tied to larger issues
● Modern STEM format
● Problem solving skills
● Drew much attention
● Pulled in mentors
● Kids saw they make a
difference

8. Shifting Gears
FIRST Robotics
● Real world problem
solving skills
● High visibility
● See STEM as career
options
● Reaches many kids
● “Super Bowl” of smarts
● Nationwide community

9. Testing The Waters
Underwater Robots
● Team built an ROV for
school magnet program
● NSF grant for teachers
● MATE workshops
● Wanted to test FIRST
model in another venue
● Learned about ROV
Competition, MATE

10. The Break Out Event
MATE National ROV
Championships
● Judges Award
● Elegance in Design
Award
● 1st place Technical
Writing Award
● 1st place overall

11. In The Wake
8 months no media
attention, then…..
● Wired Magazine
● ABC Nightline
● Washington Post /LA
Times
● Reader’s Digest

12. Against Odds
● Undocumented
● Huge financial
barriers
● Rising anti-immigrant
sentiment
● AZ legislative
measures

13. One In A Million
● Mechanical Engineering
ASU
● Self deports, applies for re-entry,
denied 3 times
● Sen. Durbin intervenes
● Joins U.S. Army
● Serves in Afghanistan
● Now works for BNSF
Railroad

14. A Foundation Established
● Expectations changed
● College is expected
● Competing at high levels the norm
● Role models for others

15. The Legacy
● 4 time AZ Regional
Chairman’s Award
winner
● 4 time AZ Regional
Championship winner
● FIRST World
Championships HOF
● Dean’s List Award
winner
● National Woodie
Flowers Award winner
● Spirit of Innovation, Pete Conrad
Foundation national champions
● Many students go to college

16. Chairman’s

17. Standouts
Dulce Matuz
● ASU, electrical engineering
● Co-founder Arizona DREAM
Act Coalition, ADAC
● DREAM Act advocate
● Time Magazine’s top 100
Most influential people,
2012

18. Standouts
Angelica Hernandez
● Outstanding Young Woman, City of
Phoenix 2007
● Valedictorian Fulton School of
Engineering, ASU
● DACA student
● Masters of Civil & Environmental
Engineering, Atmosphere &
Energy, Stanford
● Works for Nexant

19. Standouts
Maria Castro
● Lead creation of Calculus
classes at H.S.
● Featured on CNN
documentary
● Team President
● Immigrant rights activist
○ Travels the country to
support immigrant
issues
● Campaign team member at The
Arizona Dream Act Coalition (4 years)
● Southwest Regional Coordinator for
United We Dream ( Years)
● Wants to be Criminal Immigration
Lawyer

20. Standouts
Cynthia Botello
● ASU, construction management
● Won many awards from the
construction industry
● Project Engineer Turner
Construction

21. The New Era
● Competing against all
University fields
● Thousands of dollars of
components
● State of the art technology
● Students pushed beyond
typical H.S. ability
● Top mentors in industry
● Collaborating with
universities

22. Culmination!
● Many articles, news stories,
T.V. stories, and textbooks
● Critically acclaimed
documentary, Underwater
DREAMS
● Book telling the story of
beating MIT and where are
they now
● Hollywood feature film, Spare
Parts

23. In Conclusion
● More emphasis on
inspiration & less on
standardized tests
● Students need
meaningful
connections
If life doesn’t give you a dream, build one!

24. Underwater DREAMS

25. Spare Parts