Doerfler brothers, Plum alumni, make 2nd donation for alma mater’s robotics program

A $10,000 donation from two Plum graduates will help start a new robotics club at their alma mater’s middle school.

The donation from Joe Doerfler, 26, and Don Doerfler, 29, comes after the brothers gave $62,500 last year to the high school’s robotics club.

The money comes from their winnings in National Havoc Robot League competitions, which they are then required to give away, Joe Doerfler said.

The brothers work as a team. In 2022, Joe’s robot took first place in its 12-pound weight class; in 2023, his came in third.

Joe, who graduated from Plum in 2016, is in product management for FS-Elliott in Export while Don, who graduated in 2012, is a test engineer for Schroeder Industries in Leetsdale.

Technology education teacher Jason Steele said the middle school club will be for seventh and eighth grade students. They will design, build, assemble and test bots in the 3-pound, or beetle, weight class.

The students, at first, will build two bots they can drive against each other before taking part in outside competitions, he said.

Steele, who had previously coached the high school robotics team, said the middle school club will feed into it, and the brothers’ donation will go a long way toward making that happen.

“We want to get as many kids involved as possible,” he said.