No Mentors..
 

Any advice?

We are a brand new team and we do not have mentors. I do not foresee us being able to get mentors this season. Our team was organized very late and with very little planning from the individuals who asked us to start a team.

Now, do NOT get me wrong. I am so glad the opportunity was given to us and we are going to run with it and make it the best possible year. I am working hard to get sponsors and financial assistance to see us through the season and hope we find mentors along the path.

However - I am planning for the possibility of no mentors and need advice.

Re: No Mentors..
 

What might be a good start is to go to parents on the team first, and if anyone works for an engineering related business have them ask around at work to see if they would be interested.

Re: No Mentors..
 

It would probably be a good idea to contact your Regional Director, talk to teams around you, and in general network wherever you can for mentors (parents, local engineering businesses, technical education teachers, etc.).

if you're asking for advice as to how to run a team without mentors.. That's not exactly my expertise, but regardless I'd guess it's a rather difficult task. I know there are teams that get by without engineers, some of them active on Chief Delphi, so hopefully they'll be able to more specifically help you out.

Re: No Mentors..
 

842 won the Championship Chairman's Award with no engineering mentors on their team.....

Ask parents, etc.

If you are helping the team and have technical questions, there are a bunch of knowledgeable mentors here on CD who will help you figure things out.

Re: No Mentors..
 

FIRST has started a "Virtual Mentors" program for 2011 also.

There may be people in your area. If not, these are experienced mentors who can be available for calls and support.

Here is the link from Bills Blog.

https://my.usfirst.org/FIRSTPortal/L...ual_login.aspx

Re: No Mentors..
 

I think I wanted to:

1) Be assured that it is possible to get through this first year without the engineers

and

2) see if there was someplace particular I could run as fast as possible to and yell HELP!!!! when that moment arises. :D

Re: No Mentors..
 

842's teacher is quite an outstanding mentor in my estimation; inspiration is what it is all about!

Re: No Mentors..
 

We started our fist year without a mentor. After three weeks of going it alone, we paired up with another team that met 30 minutes away. They were gracious enough to allow us to use there build site, access to their mentors and ever made parts for us. The biggest thing I learned during those few weeks was how a good FIRST FRC team is run. There has to be at least one team in your area that would be willing to help you out. It was mentioned before: check with your regional director. Also, check TIMS. They don't have the "Are you willing to mentor a team?" question for nothing! If you don't get any takers in Texas, drop me a line and i'll help you out in any way I can.

Re: No Mentors..
 

I think you guys are in Texas? Look around, see if there are any veteran teams that may be able to offer advice if/when you need it. Also take a look at this:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...threadid=87994

While I haven't looked in depth in this, FRSee looks like a place that you might be able to get help from.

If you have any other questions, please ask! (or PM me)

Hope this helps,

Jason Law

Re: No Mentors..
 

Mentors don't necessarily come from sponsors. Parents and teachers are just as capable of being mentors. A mechanical mentor can be anyone with experience building things and putting things together. Similar for an electrical mentor. So don't think you HAVE to get professional mentors.

Also, Corpus Christi is filthy with petroleum industry. You're surrounded with mentor potential, you just need to reach out a bit to some local companies to see if anyone is interested in volunteering their time. Your chamber of commerce isn't as useful as I'd like, but these guys look like a good opportunity:
http://www.maverickengineering.com/
Call tomorrow and ask to speak to someone in public relations and give them your elevator pitch and make clear you're not necessarily looking for money, but volunteers as well.

Also, as Jane Young asked in another thread, where are you guys going for kickoff? If you're headed to Houston, I've got some people here you should talk to. Actually, if you're headed to San Antonio, I've probably got some people you should talk to there as well.

EDIT to add:
You've got some other teams around you down there. 2787 - Innovation Academy for Engineering, Environmental & Marine Science, has a few years experience.

Re: No Mentors..
 

The answer to both 1 and 2 is yes. Yes, you can. It may not be pretty but it is doable and you have wonderful people in Texas who can help you. I've sent Andrew Schuetze a pm since you will be attending the Alamo Kickoff. Look at the list that Chris Fultz gave you.
You'll want to become acquainted with the FIRST website, esp. the FRC sections. That might be something for you and the 7 people traveling with you to Kickoff to do for homework this week. Look at the first part of the manual that has been released, check the deadline dates for various things, check out the virtual mentor list. Make sure you are signed up in TIMS. If you don't know what that is, ask us.


You can do this.

Jane

P.S. Kevin, he answered that the team is traveling to the Alamo Kickoff.

Re: No Mentors..
 

Don't panic, it is a solvable problem.

1st) There are 3 other FRC teams in your immediate area. Collegiate High School Robotics Team, Innovation Academy for Engineering, Environmental & Marine Science, and Collegiate High School. You can use this to locate more teams: http://usfirst.org/whatsgoingon.aspx

2nd) Contact your regional director. They can help with pairing rookie / veteran teams. They may also be able to provide a little help in matching mentors to the team.

3rd) Ask parents to pitch in, technical and non-technical.

4th) Read the manual. REALLY read the manual especially on the robot rules and game rules !!

http://usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/...nt.aspx?id=452

and here are technical resources
http://usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/...nt.aspx?id=478

5th) Chief Delphi is here....

Re: No Mentors..
 

After that contact local universities. College students are less inspirational sometime but they sometimes have good ideas as far as engineering goes.

Re: No Mentors..
 

Though it is my opinion that every team should have a good technical mentor to get the most out of the program, it is not necessarily required to have a successful season or, at the very least, a rewarding experience.

Use the available resources mentioned earlier and to track down whoever your can, FIRST alums are hiding everywhere these days! I'd probably build the kit-bot chassis (a good, solid chassis for beginners) and keep your mechanisms simple and robust. The majority of the problems I've seen rookies have at competition aren't so much from lack of robot functionality, but rather lack of reliability.

And of course, pay attention to the other areas of team development, there could be a Rookie All-Star Award in your future which would be a nice boost for many successful years to follow.

Oh ya, check Chief Delphi every day!

Re: No Mentors..
 

Carl,
For the benefit of our readers, can you go into a little bit about FIRST alumni and what that means - where they can be found? Also - maybe the benefit of college mentors? Also - one more thing - explain the kit-bot. What that means.

Thank you. It would be a good reference for rookies/new teams.

Jane