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Donovan and Michael 1 are big names with the Stuyvesant Robotics team. They are two of the award-winning robots the team has produced. Another big name on campus is Rafael Colón, the head of Stuyvesant High School's robotics team and a volunteer in the program for the past decade.

"Mr. Colón is in the lab with us at all hours of the day. He is just such a great leader for the team," says Stuypulse senior Spencer Birnbaum.

The Stuyvesant Robotics team, also known as "Stuypulse," is well known for its creativity and winning streak. Colón says he fell into the position 10 years ago, when the former head of the team started to cut back on his hours.

"I started out with one a week, two a week, three a week, and now I have it five, six, and seven days a week," says Colón.

That is no exaggeration. Colón, who is a teacher at Stuyvesant High School by day, spends his nights and weekends with the kids, managing 120 students.

"I put my time in because they are worth it," says Colón.

"I realized very quickly how important he was to the team and how influential he has been. Our work ethic is owed to him," says Stuypulse senior Alejandro Carillo.

In 2007, Colón says he cut his leg in the robotics lab and was hospitalized with a serious staph infection, but a month later he was back.

"I was e-mailing the from the hospital bed, which I was not supposed to and they were e-mailing me back," says Colón. "And then as soon as I got out of the hospital, instead of basically going home and resting, I e-mailed them and said, 'Look, I am coming out the hospital on such-and-such day and so I want everybody, each component from wherever you are at, I want everyone back in the lab.'"

Colón also encourages his students to mentor and start teams at other schools.

"We have done dozens of new teams as well. We have our mentors go out every week and help guide the teams what they need in terms of building parts," says Birnbaum.

Colón says he takes pride not in the trophies but in the personal victories of his students.

"Seeing the process, the learning process. Seeing them smile, seeing them cheer, or their being introverted and then at the end not being that way," he says.

So, for dedicating his time and support to the Stuypulse robotics team, Rafael Colón is the latest New Yorker of the Week.