ABOVE: Fairmont head robotics coach Sam Viesselman with the team’s robot during a practice on Thursday at Fairmont High School.

FAIRMONT- Sam Viesselman, the head coach of Fairmont High School’s Robotics team, has been named Robotics Coach of the Year for Section 2 and Assistant Robotics Coach of the Year statewide by the Minnesota High School Coaches Association.

During Viesselman’s tenure the team endured the COVID-19 pandemic and has become one of the most competitive FIRST robotics teams in the state. The team competed in the FIRST Robotics world championship for the first time in late April.

While Viesselman is the head coach for the robotics team, he will be receiving the award as an assistance coach because robotics teams are structured differently than other activities.

“A lot of teams have multiple head coaches and they share it, so the way robotics does it is we put everybody in one pool, the top vote getter is the head coach of the year and I was the second vote getter,” said Viesselman.

As head coach Viesselman is the team’s lead technical mentor and manages its logistics in addition to teaching students to work in a variety of areas.

“That spans everything from wiring, programming, mechanical design (and) 3D design,” said Viesselman.

Viesselman is an alumni of Fairmont High School who first joined the team in 2010, later becoming captain of the team and graduating in 2011. After finishing college Viesselman returned to the area where his former coach Bob Bonin reached out and offered him a position as an assistant robotics coach. Viesselman accepted the position in 2017 before becoming head coach in 2018.

Over the course of his time as head coach Viesselman said he learned how to relate to and work with a more diverse group of students.

“It was really easy to relate to students who are like me, … but what I learned over time is how to relate to students who are very interested in the topic of robotics but don’t learn the same way I learn,” said Viesselman.

In the future Viesselman said he hopes to reach out to more students who are interested in robotics but may be intimidated by it while also lowering other barriers to entry.

Viesselman credited his success and the success of the team to the hard work of the students and other mentors, as well as the support the team has received from the school district and the community as a whole.

Members of the robotics team praised Viesselman’s dedication to the team and the effectiveness of his instruction.

“It sounds crazy but sometimes we stay there until midnight or even later, cranking out programming problems that none of the mentors would do other than Sam. … That’s the biggest thing for me is how committed he is and how he can stay with me when we’ve got to keep going,” Isaac Sheard, a junior at Fairmont High School and the team’s programming lead.

“He’s pretty much a jack of all trades, he knows everything from CAD to programming to engineering; he knows it all. I’m the design lead and coming in here I had no idea how to use any CAD software at all and Sam pretty much taught me from the bottom up how to use CAD software,” Aiden Nelson, a senior at Fairmont High School.

As a coach Viesselman said he aims to be the person he needed most when he was a student.

“I wanted to go into engineering, but I didn’t know anybody in engineering, I didn’t understand the process, … so I attempt to be that person for kids that are interested in the engineering field,” said Viesselman.

Both team members also said their participation in robotics and Viesselman’s coaching played a decisive role in what they plan to do in their future careers.

“He’s what led me to enjoy this program. … As of last year I had no idea what I wanted to do and this year I have decided I want to go into mechanical engineering because of the sheer enjoyment I have had from this program,” said Nelson.

“As a freshman I knew engineering was maybe something I wanted to do but ever since I’ve been able to branch out and network with some of the guys I know that I want to become an aerospace engineer,” said Sheard.

Outside of coaching Viesselman works as a software engineer for Kahler Automation where he works on systems which dispense, blend and measure fertilizer. Viesselman is also a member of Martin County Know How’s board of directors. He will formally be presented with the award when the team attends the state robotics tournament at the University of Minnesota this weekend.