Robotics team mentor helps other ‘curious’ kids
“I’d say I was a curious kid. My mom would say destructive. When she was in my room cleaning, I only allowed her to touch my bed or chest of drawers. I had piles all over the room. I had a pile for an old, dead radio that I took apart. I had a pile for an old, dead clock that I took apart. I had a pile for an old TV that I was taking apart. I would take them all apart and try to put them back together. I just wanted to see how stuff worked.
“It paid off in the long run. When I got to graduate school and beyond in my career, some of the equipment we used could be pretty complicated mechanically. So it was nice to be able to take apart the guts of your own electron microscope, for example, and swap out a stage without having to call a service guy. I also kind of built machines that were computer controlled, writing codes for the device drivers and things like that. I definitely knew all the basics.
“When I was asked if I was interested in being an industrial sponsor for the Goose Creek school district’s robotics team, I said, sure. The kids had a great time. They learned all about computers and gears and motors, all that good stuff. There were competitions where you’d build a robot, and it was supposed to do tasks better than the other robots. It was fabulous.
“During my career at Exxon, I always enjoyed being a mentor. When it came to the kids on the robotics team, it was the same thing. I really enjoyed watching the transformation of the smart, geeky kids. Some kids who are really smart and make good grades can be kind of loners. They spend a lot of time playing on their computers and stuff, and they don’t have much in the way of social interactions. So to see them make friends and learn how to come together to be part of a team, that was pretty cool.
“It helps their skills, too, especially since robotics is becoming so important in manufacturing. Robotics is really changing the scheme of production, as far as how things will be done in the future. It’s neat to think about some of these kids being a part of that.”
— Jeff Butler
A physicist, Jeff built “the laboratory of my dreams” at Exxon Mobil (formerly Exxon) in Baytown. He spent his entire 34-year career there.
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