He’s a man with a plan. 26 year-old Mark McCombs is making waves in Jacksonville when it comes to educating students about robotics.

Walking into Mark McComb’s machine shop/teaching space/art studio in CoRK South is like…well, like walking into nothing you’ve seen before. You are immediately greeted by the noises of welding tools, the scent of burning argon, metal parts, and machines in various stages of progress, and perhaps, most importantly, a sense of community. Once you get to know Mark, and hear how connected all of his passions are, it’s not surprising to see how the space functions in so many ways.

Mark is the founder of Renaissance Jax, a non profit dedicated to establishing sustainable FIRST Robotics teams in elementary, middle, and high schools all over Duval County. He has attainable goals for the future, looking to find resources to build close to 30 rookie teams a year for the next 7 years, with a plan to extend the robotics programs to make sure that all students who want to participate can do just that. Nationally, FIRST has an 89% retention rate across its programs, which means they are doing something right, and offer over $20 million in scholarships each year.

A graduate of UNF, Mark finished with a Mechanical Engineering degree, but it was at the local Magnet high school Stanton College Prep where he first became involved in competitive robotics. Now, Mark works tirelessly to create a sense of community for students with the introduction of a FIRST Tech Challenge league for 7th through 12th graders. This program is made possible by the collaboration between Clay County Schools and the local company Vistakon.

“The kids that get into FIRST Robotics at an early age will have years of very valuable and typically unrivaled experience,” Mark told me. With that extra experience, those students are on the forefront of applied STEM concepts because they will have been designing, building, programming, and solving problems for years. Not only does that improve the quality of life for those students, but it makes Jacksonville a desirable hub for technology industries.

Mark chose the space in CoRK South precisely for its proximity to the many artists who work in CoRK. “I wanted the studio to be in CoRK because I wanted the people [students and teachers] coming into my building for robotics to have access to some of the most creative minds in Jacksonville,” he said. That kind of thinking has clearly paid off for Mark and his students, because more artists are migrating to CoRK South. Jokingly, Mark likes to say that he’s a CoRK colonial, and that he has helped spread the footprint of the arts district.

One of the biggest things that Mark wants people to know about the FIRST Robotics program and Renaissance Jax is that “robot” should not be a scary word. He maintains that anyone who wants to be a coach or mentor can be, and even encouraged this English Major to become a part of the program–I told him I’d stick to writing about the robots for now.

If you want to know more about his program, or if you’d like to become a mentor check out his website. You can visit Mark and his robotics students at One Spark 2015, Creator Number 22083. He’ll be set up near Hemming Park, and trust me, as the dude with the robots, you’ll know where he is!

*See the One Spark // Renaissance Jax + Mark McCombs  article published on Somewhere and the City.