Welcome to GEARED UP 2026: Mentor Conference! Join us at James Madison University’s Festival Conference & Student Center in Harrisonburg, VA, for two days of learning, connection, and community.
You power 10,000+ students across DC, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. This day is built for YOU. Whether you’re a rookie coach launching your first team or a 20-year veteran looking for fresh ideas, you’ll find sessions, workshops, and conversations designed to sharpen your skills and recharge your passion.
Proudly presented by Aramco Americas. See you in Harrisonburg.
Curious about what an engineering degree can look like outside the classroom? Engineering is a tool for solving real world problems. In this session, attendees will explore how STEM education can lead to rewarding engineering careers within the U.S. Navy. We’ll share how 3D printing can be used by FIRST robotics student participants to rapidly prototype parts, customize components for better performance, and solve problems on the fly during competitions, empowering students to innovate, iterate and push the limits of what their robots can do. We’ll also highlight how additive manufacturing (3D printing application) is transforming the way the Navy designs, repairs, and supports the fleet, while discussing the many career paths available to students with an interest in science, technology, engineering, and math. Attendees will leave with a better understanding of how classroom skills can translate into meaningful careers that make a real impact.
Presenters: Malia Mariano – Mechanical Engineer at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC) supporting Engineering Tech codes and the Innovation Lab, specializing in additive manufacturing technologies that help improve fleet readiness. Passionate about STEM outreach and inspiring the next generation of engineers.
This talk is designed for students aged 8–16, mentors, and educators, and explores both the opportunities and risks of coding in the AI era. Through relatable examples and interactive discussion, the session will demonstrate how AI can accelerate learning, lower barriers to innovation, and empower students to build projects earlier than ever before. Equally important, the talk will emphasize the continued importance of curiosity, problem-solving, creativity, teamwork, and debugging skills in a world where AI-generated code is increasingly accessible.
I am an Assistant Professor of Radiology and Radiological Science at Johns Hopkins University, mentoring kids for FLL Discovery and Explore since 2019-2020. I am passionate about AI and robotics.
This presentation will take a close look at Artificial Intelligence and how it relates to scouting. Human scouting and a few of the websites used daily for stats have weak spots and this will inform how to shore up those weaknesses It will teach people how to approach the topics of scouting and AI from an interdisciplinary mindset, how to be good custodians of AI, and how to use it. This presentation will also teach a few of the foundational concepts of how AI and Machine Learning work, then wrap up with a solution I am working on.
