Mentoring Opportunities in Minneapolis
 

Hey everyone, I've recently become a FIRST alumni and am going to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities this year. I was hoping that someone out there in cyberspace knew of a team in the Minneapolis area that I could join as a college mentor.

My main problem right now is lack of a car, so teams that i could get to by public transit or walking would be best.

Re: Mentoring Opportunities in Minneapolis
 

Hunt down Renee Becker, she was on UPS (1675) and started a FIRST alumni group up there that works with local teams.

Littleswimmer14 is her username, she has contact info on her profile.

Re: Mentoring Opportunities in Minneapolis
 

I was about to mention that!

The first meeting was on Wednesday (September 8th), and future meetings will be every other Monday (Sept 20th, Oct 11, 25, Nov 8, 22, and Dec 6th) from 6-7:30 in Walter Library room 110.

Either contact Renee directly using her profile or email GO FIRST's email address (uofmfso@gmail.com).

The group is around to help support local teams and local events, so there are plenty of mentoring opportunities.

Re: Mentoring Opportunities in Minneapolis
 

Yeah GO FIRST is the best, there really working on doing some BIG things in the Twin Cities area, and Renee is the one at the front of the pack, she can hook you up with what ever you need.

hope to see you there

Danny

Re: Mentoring Opportunities in Minneapolis
 

Hi guys,

I found him yesterday, thanks though!

Also if any Minneapolis/St. Paul teams see this and need help PM me so I can send mentors to your team.

(Bryan, nice signature, you forgot to mention you won Deans List last year in the questions you filled out :p )

Re: Mentoring Opportunities in Minneapolis
 

My team is in St. Louis Park, but we already have one mentor, and for the size of the team, one is enough.

So, I guess I had no need to post :)


Thaine

Re: Mentoring Opportunities in Minneapolis
 

I beg to differ! Mentors can also help your team recruit members. Plus, you never know how many new students will be interested in joining your team. If you get a dozen new students, you will definitely want more mentorship!

Having many mentors with a variety of backgrounds alleviates pressure from your current one mentor, and can provide your team with a different perspective. I also can't see one mentor teaching programming, electronics, and mechanical engineering at the same time. Must be one busy mentor!

Re: Mentoring Opportunities in Minneapolis
 

As the only college mentor on my team: Yes, you need more than one mentor. :P

Re: Mentoring Opportunities in Minneapolis
 

We have eight people, you sure we need more mentors?

If so, we'll most likely be getting mentors from a nearby community center that might be allowing us to use their rooms.

Re: Mentoring Opportunities in Minneapolis
 

If you only have one, yes you need another one or two at least. If nothing else, get a Non-Engineering Mentor (NEM) to help with paperwork and logistics (or, if you already have one of those, get an engineer so you have good technical advice).

As for why, the answer is that one mentor is likely to get burned out faster if they don't have help. Then you don't have a mentor...

On 330, I believe that there are somewhere around 10 mentors available at any given time. Not all of them will actually be building the robot, and maybe not all of them are in the shop. Some might be doing college homework, some might be relaxing at home, some will be in the shop. Takes a lot of the stress off; the mentors now are pretty much the same group as was there during my time on the team, with one or two new mentors and one or two that have decided not to do robotics any more. (I last competed in 2007.)

Re: Mentoring Opportunities in Minneapolis
 

Huh. I guess I'll talk to my supervisor.
Anyway, St. Louis Park is a bit of a drive, but I guess another mentor would be nice. Our current mentor, Rolf, is great, he can build anything and wire anything, but we need someone good with computers.

How long have you (the person who created this post) worked with teams from FIRST, and what are your specializations?

Thanks.


Thaine

Re: Mentoring Opportunities in Minneapolis
 

Even if you can't hook up with a team, don't forget your help at the regionals will be needed. Since they take place right on campus, that is an easy thing for you.

Re: Mentoring Opportunities in Minneapolis
 

Team 2508, Armada Robotics in Stillwater is always looking for mentors. But we are a distance; however, there are some metro transit routes that go by the high school.

If you are interested you can talk to either me (Sean Quinn) or our lead mentor, Todd Kapsner. My email is seanpquinn012@hotmail.com and Todd Kapsner's email is kapsnert@stillwater.k12.mn.us.

-Sean

Re: Mentoring Opportunities in Minneapolis
 

Funny this topic would come up, I'm in almost the exact same situation - in the Twin Cities, looking for a FIRST team to help out with. I'm living in the Uptown Minneapolis area, and am available basically any night during the week. My main mode of transportation is Metro Transit, but besides that, proximity is not a huge problem.

Re: Mentoring Opportunities in Minneapolis
 

Team 2502 could probably use another mentor or two, we are down in Eden Prairie which can be pretty easily reached (westbound) during the day, getting eastbound at night is more of an issue... if you came on a friday or something we may have some mentors or students who could connect you back up with the transit system via the light rail system or similar.

I am currently taking courses as a high school senior at the university of minnesota through the PSEO program. Shoot me an PM or email if you want to meet up some time.

Re: Mentoring Opportunities in Minneapolis
 

For teams looking for regular mentors (eg those who need an electrical or programming mentor), I would try going outside of this thread.

GO FIRST members will help as much as we can, but keep in mind that we are still college students. We can help occasionally and we will do what we can to match teams up with mentors, but we ourselves will not be able to come and mentor teams daily.

Also keep in mind that GO FIRST is a very new organization, so we are still finding our place in the FIRST world. If you guys have suggestions for us, those would be great too! Mentor matching sounds like a good service idea though.

Re: Mentoring Opportunities in Minneapolis
 

Somewhat off topic, but it has been mentioned (in passing). Regionals can always use help. Duluth is starting a regional this year according to the schedule. It is the week before UM-TC spring break. I am sure some local teams will be going up there and I would guess you could get a ride up there with them if needed.

Re: Mentoring Opportunities in Minneapolis
 

Here's a little more information about the group:

GO FIRST is an alumni organization at the University of Minnesota. It was created to help support the growth of FIRST in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area. A requirement for all members it to volunteer in some way at the MN regionals, either though VIMS, helping robotics teams, or coordinating scouting alliances. After volunteering at the MN regionals students decide their own level of involvement based on school schedules and the extra time they can commit to a team.

Other things we do include providing pre-ship inspections and presentation tips at the Pre-Ship regional in MN, presenting on a number of different topics at MN Splash, and coordinating trips to other regionals or off-season events that we volunteer at.

Since school started at the University last week we're still organizing the group and figuring out how many active students we have this year. Currently we have a large variety of majors ranging from Electrical, Mechanical, Biomedical Engineering, Communications, Marketing, Management, Multimedia, and Programming. Our first big meeting is Monday September 20th, for those teams who posted here I'm going to contact you via PMs to get more information about your team & what kind of talents/mentors you would find useful.

MN teams, keep posting if you're looking for help!!!!

Re: Mentoring Opportunities in Minneapolis
 

(Edit: Earlier in the thread, Trent basically said what I am going to say)

If you don't mind a ride to Eden Prairie, Team 2502 would love to have a new mentor. Someone with previous FIRST experience... All our mentors are pretty new to FIRST and none of them have been alumns in the experience so they offer unique perspectives but also don't understand some things, we feel.

We are also one of 2011 Control System Beta testers and more mentors would be great.*

* I didn't break the NDA right? Nothing proprietary there...

Re: Mentoring Opportunities in Minneapolis
 

Alright i'm part of GO FIRST now, so to those looking for a little help in the twin cities area we will facilitate the best we can.

Skill set: I was my teams programmer for the last 2 years, so i know C++ and am up to date on the CRIO, webcam, and all the other fun stuff that has blinky lights. This year I was a drive coach and we placed 2nd at the milwaukee regional and made it to the finals in our division at nationals, so i'm pretty experienced with making game strategies. I was also team captain, so ive dealt with a decent amount of team organizing

Schedule: It looks like I'll be in wisconsin from the kickoff through the end of january, so i'll hopefully be mentoring my old team during that time. I should be able to make both the minneapolis and milwaukee regionals.

Some Goals: I'd like to find a team thats just getting started and open up a few lines of communication with my old team back in hartland, that way we can share some designs and get a little coopertition rockin

Even if I or another member of GO FIRST cant be physically with your team, i'm hoping that we can exchange emails and help whatever way we can, let me know if you want it