Derek: Added awards photo

2026-06-18T01:25:30Z

Added awards photo

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:25, 18 June 2026
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	\|Academic Honors and Honor Roll Recognition<ref name=":2" />		\|Academic Honors and Honor Roll Recognition<ref name=":2" />
	\|}		\|}
			[[File:Team 3773P All Awards.jpg\|none\|thumb\|Team 3773P posing with their many awards. From left to right: Allison Baier, Derek Baier, Dirk Van Der Merwe, Colton Currier]]
	----		----

172.31.0.1: Finished citations

2026-06-18T01:21:40Z

Finished citations

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:21, 18 June 2026
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	For the 2026 Bow High School graduation ceremony, Derek collaborated with fellow robotics students to create custom graduation caps featuring programmable LED matrix displays.		For the 2026 Bow High School graduation ceremony, Derek collaborated with fellow robotics students to create custom graduation caps featuring programmable LED matrix displays.

	Each cap contained its own Wi-Fi network and could display custom animations, messages, colors, and brightness settings. Derek reported building the devices the day before graduation and completing software development shortly before the ceremony. ~~(Concord Monitor)~~		Each cap contained its own Wi-Fi network and could display custom animations, messages, colors, and brightness settings. Derek reported building the devices the day before graduation and completing software development shortly before the ceremony.<ref name=":1" />

	== Independent Engineering Work ==		== Independent Engineering Work ==
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	\|-		\|-
	\|2025		\|2025
	\|Team 3773P wins Innovate Award at VEX Worlds ~~(Patch)~~		\|Team 3773P wins Innovate Award at VEX Worlds<ref name=":0" />
	\|-		\|-
	\|2026		\|2026
	\|Graduates Bow High School ~~(Concord Monitor)~~		\|Graduates Bow High School<ref name=":1" />
	\|-		\|-
	\|2026		\|2026
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	\|-		\|-
	\|2026		\|2026
	\|Begins studies at Worcester Polytechnic Institute ~~(Concord Monitor)~~		\|Begins studies at Worcester Polytechnic Institute<ref name=":1" />
	\|}		\|}

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	!'''Relationship'''		!'''Relationship'''
	!		!Person
	\|-		\|-
	\|Mother		\|Mother

172.31.0.1: Added Relationships

2026-06-18T01:20:01Z

Added Relationships

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 |2026
 |Begins studies at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Concord Monitor)
 |}
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Derek: Added VEX awards image

2026-06-15T05:33:37Z

Added VEX awards image

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:33, 15 June 2026
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	== Team 3773P ==		== Team 3773P ==
	Derek competed on Team 3773P ("Phosphorus"), one of Bow High School's VEX Robotics Competition teams.		[[File:Team 3773P All Awards.jpg\|thumb\|Team 3773P with all the awards they won]]
			Derek competed on Team 3773P ("BowBots Phosphorus"), one of Bow High School's VEX Robotics Competition teams.

	The team consisted of:		The team consisted of:

Derek: Initial Revision

2026-06-15T05:02:07Z

Initial Revision

New page

= Derek Baier =
[[File:Derek Baier Portrait 2026.png|alt=Derek Baier, 2026|left|thumb|Derek Baier, 2026]]
'''Derek Baier''' (born July 2, 2008) is an American engineer, programmer, robotics competitor, and student from New Hampshire. He is known for his involvement in robotics, software development, electronics, and independent engineering projects. During high school he served as co-president of the Bow High School robotics program and was a member of Team 3773P, which received the Innovate Award at the 2025 VEX Robotics World Championship.<ref name=":0">https://patch.com/new-hampshire/concord-nh/bow-high-school-robotics-team-wins-worlds</ref> He maintains the personal website [https://derekbaier.com derekbaier.com] and publishes software projects through GitHub.

== Infobox ==
{| class="wikitable"
!Field
!Value
|-
|Full Name
|Derek Baier
|-
|Born
|2008
|-
|Nationality
|American
|-
|Occupation
|Student, Engineer, Programmer
|-
|Known For
|Robotics, Software Development, Engineering Projects
|-
|Education
|Bow High School (2026), Worcester Polytechnic Institute (expected 2030)
|-
|Website
|derekbaier.com
|-
|GitHub
|github.com/deekb
|-
|Awards
|VEX World Championship Innovate Award (2025, Team 3773P), Bowl Award for Engineering (2026)
|}
----

= Early Life =
Derek Baier grew up in New Hampshire. From an early age he displayed an interest in computers, electronics, engineering, and understanding how technology works. Family members recall that he frequently disassembled devices, experimented with software, and pursued independent technical projects outside of school.

By middle school, he had developed interests in programming and engineering design, which would later become the foundation of his robotics and software-development activities.
----

= Education =

== Elementary and Middle School ==
Derek attended local public schools in New Hampshire and received academic honors during his elementary school years. A Concord Monitor honor-roll publication listed him among students recognized for academic achievement.<ref name=":2">https://www.concordmonitor.com/2019/03/15/honor-roll-master-24163750/</ref>

== Bow High School (2022–2026) ==
Derek attended Bow High School in Bow, New Hampshire.

During high school he became increasingly involved in:

* Robotics
* Computer science
* Programming
* Electronics
* Engineering design
* Technical leadership

He served as co-president of the robotics club and was part of a successful competitive robotics program. (Concord Monitor)

In 2026 he graduated from Bow High School and announced plans to attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.<ref name=":1">https://www.concordmonitor.com/2026/06/13/this-is-where-the-exponential-growth-happens-bow-high-school-graduates-look-forward-to-bright-futures/</ref>
----

= Robotics Career =
<nowiki>[[File:Team3773P_Worlds_2025.jpg|thumb|300px|Team 3773P at the 2025 VEX Robotics World Championship]]</nowiki>

Derek was a member of the Bow High School VEX Robotics program and served as co-president of the club.

== Team 3773P ==
Derek competed on Team 3773P ("Phosphorus"), one of Bow High School's VEX Robotics Competition teams.

The team consisted of:

* Derek Baier
* Allison Baier
* Dirk van der Merwe
* Carter Brennan

and was coached by Connor Parzick and Pam Cafasso.<ref name=":0" />

=== 2025 VEX Robotics World Championship ===
In 2025 Team 3773P qualified for the VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas, Texas.

Competing against more than 800 teams from around the world, the team received the '''Innovate Award''', an award recognizing an effective and well-documented engineering design process featuring a novel aspect of robot design or gameplay strategy. Bow High School's team earned the award for software and code written entirely by the students.<ref name=":0" />

The team was one of only ten high-school teams worldwide to receive the award that year.<ref name=":0" />

=== Leadership ===
As co-president of the robotics club, Derek helped guide the program during one of its most successful competitive seasons and worked closely with teammates and mentors to prepare for world-level competition.<ref name=":1" />
----

= Engineering Projects =
<nowiki>[[File:LED_Graduation_Cap.jpg|thumb|250px|Programmable LED graduation cap designed by Derek Baier and collaborators]]</nowiki>

Throughout high school Derek pursued independent engineering projects involving software, electronics, and embedded systems.

== LED Graduation Caps ==
For the 2026 Bow High School graduation ceremony, Derek collaborated with fellow robotics students to create custom graduation caps featuring programmable LED matrix displays.

Each cap contained its own Wi-Fi network and could display custom animations, messages, colors, and brightness settings. Derek reported building the devices the day before graduation and completing software development shortly before the ceremony. (Concord Monitor)

== Independent Engineering Work ==
Areas of interest include:

* Software engineering
* Embedded systems
* Computer vision
* Electronics design
* Automation
* Robotics software
* Linux systems
* Open-source software

----

= Software Development =
[[File:Screenshot 2026-06-15 deekb Derek Baier GitHub.png|alt=Derek Baier GitHub profile and software projects|thumb|GitHub profile and software projects]]
Derek publishes software projects through GitHub and maintains a personal engineering website documenting experiments, tools, and technical projects.

Project categories include:

* Robotics software
* Computer vision
* Automation tools
* Data processing
* Open-source utilities
* Engineering applications

----

= Philosophy and Interests =
In a 2026 interview, Derek described his fascination with computing and engineering:<blockquote>Programming has always fascinated me because computer chips made from sand can be used to create technologies people rely on every day.<ref name=":1" /></blockquote>He has expressed interest in creating technology that combines software and hardware to solve practical problems.<ref name=":1" />
----

= Awards and Recognition =
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Award
|-
|2025
|VEX Robotics World Championship Innovate Award (Team 3773P)<ref name=":0" />
|-
|2026
|Bowl Award for Engineering (Bow High School)
|-
|Various Years
|Academic Honors and Honor Roll Recognition<ref name=":2" />
|}
----

= Timeline =
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Event
|-
|2008
|Born
|-
|~2015
|Begins experimenting with programming and technology
|-
|2022
|Enters Bow High School
|-
|2024–2026
|Co-president, Bow High School Robotics
|-
|2025
|Team 3773P wins Innovate Award at VEX Worlds (Patch)
|-
|2026
|Graduates Bow High School (Concord Monitor)
|-
|2026
|Receives Bowl Award for Engineering
|-
|2026
|Begins studies at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Concord Monitor)
|}
----

Derek Baier - Revision history

Derek: Added awards photo

172.31.0.1: Finished citations

172.31.0.1: Added Relationships

Derek: Added VEX awards image

Derek: Initial Revision