Nola Garcia was a STEM teacher and former BattleBots competitor who served as the National Education Director for many of the BattleBots IQ events following the televised show's cancelation on Comedy Central.[1]
Alongside her husband Bill, she formed part of Team Loki, who entered numerous robots into the classic era of BattleBots under three branches - Team Loki 1, Team Loki 2 and Team Fembot, the latter of which was the only all-female team in Comedy Central BattleBots, and was who the novelty middleweight entry Buddy Lee Don't Play in the Street competed under for three competitions. Her son, William Garcia, also competed in the lightweight class of BattleBots with General Gau and served as a judge in various BattleBots IQ events.
Bill and Nola Garcia (back, center) with the team behind Sweet Revenge.
With the return of BattleBots on ABC in 2015, Nola Garcia mentored a team of female high school students from the Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart as they built and competed in World Championship I with Sweet Revenge.
Nola Garcia (left) during the first BBIQ drivers meeting.
Students from the school had previously been represented with BattleBots IQ competitors such as Fuchsia Fusion, PanDEMONium and Teenager. Notably, Fuschia Fusion's team included Bianca Soto, who would later form part of Team Revolution and ROTATOR as one of the fan favorites of modern BattleBots seasons. Other notable captains to have found their feet in combat robotics through the BattleBots IQ events include Andrea Gellatly of Witch Doctor and HyperShock's Will Bales.
She also featured in the 2010 documentary Bots High, which detailed that year's BattleBots IQ competition. Not only did was she seen organizing the event throughout, but she was also interviewed on the importance of the annual events.[2]
Nola Garcia (right) with Buddy Lee Don't Play in the Street.
Outside BattleBots[]
Away from the show, Nola Garcia has dedicated over two decades to educating young adults on STEM subjects, inspiring students to develop skills and enter careers in engineering. Alongside her husband and a fellow educator in Alan Crockwell, she co-founded the non-profit organisation StarBot Technologies, one of the oldest and most successful STEM education centers in the United States.
- "There is nothing like making your own robot move, it’s magical! Watching the transformation of people of all ages as they go from never having designed or built a robot to actually constructing their own robot and watching it drive across the floor is so much fun!"
- — Nola Garcia in a piece for Three Little Birds Academy[3]
With Team Loki, she traveled to the United Kingdom to compete in the War of Independence special with Rammstein. However, the team lost in the opening round to UK representative Panic Attack.
In her engineering career, she was also appointed by two different Florida governors to serve on the Florida Board of Professional Engineers for two terms. She then founded the United States Alliance for Technological Literacy.
Tragically, on January 22, 2024, BattleBots broke the news that Nola had passed away.[4]