Re: Issues with BAE Sponsorhip
 

Hi Dave,

That is a great question and it deserves a serious answer. Most people think the military is just a bunch of soldiers but it is much more than that. And it takes some of the best engineering around.

There is so much stuff that goes on I can hardly describe it. You are probably using a computer that is using a wi-fi connection. That stuff was developed for the military and until 20 years ago was top secret. Other things like GPS, jet propulsion, integrated circuits came out of military research also.

The military uses robots by the hundreds, I guess thousands now. High advanced radio communication systems, leading to things like your cellphone, hdtv, and many more things. The Air Force is looking to replace combat flights with robotic controlled flights.

Cryptography, electronic intelligence gathering, material science, and the list goes on and on. It takes tens of thousands of highly skilled engineers employed by the military as officers, civilians, and civilian contractors to keep our troops up to date with the tools they need.

If you are feeling really ambitious go read this

It was my first job out of college. I didn't even know it existed but it turned out the be the best engineering experience I ever had.

Ed

Re: Issues with BAE Sponsorhip
 

As the FIRST champion for BAE Systems, I'd like to introduce myself and let readers of this thread know that BAE Systems remains committed to FIRST as our cornerstone STEM program that is part of our strategic approach to developing our future work force. As was noted in a previous entry, there has been a leadership change and an organizational restructuring which provided an appropriate time to look at all of our philanthropic and educational outreach efforts and determine if they were fit for purpose. It has meant changes to our processes and procedures but no change to our support of FIRST. Readers should know that we put a priority on supporting teams that are near our facilities so that our employees can be involved in mentoring. We also look to support teams that are in underserved communities. We had instituted this year a grant application process to streamline and standardize our review of and approval of grants so that next year it should be much more efficient. I hope that answers your questions. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about BAE System's support for FIRST. We remain committed to FIRST and look forward to seeing you at the regionals or championship. doug

Re: Issues with BAE Sponsorhip
 

Dr. Coffey,

Thank you for your response and reassurance. It's great having companies like BAE Systems participate in FIRST.

Thanks again,

Ed Barker

Re: Issues with BAE Sponsorhip
 

As Doug posted in his response, my local contact sent us an application with no guarantees. The person also stated that their division was going to sponsored 6 or so teams in the various locations that they are in. We were one of the fortunate teams.

I'm not sure why your contact would have written it off. Sounds like you should contact Doug Coffey about that.

Re: Issues with BAE Sponsorhip
 

BAE has an enormous FRC impact. I count 204 individual FRC teams listing BAE as a team sponsor. That's almost 10% of all teams. My team is among those sponsored and we thank you.

In addition, BAE sponsors many FRC events, both Championship and Regionals. The most obvious being the BAE Granite State Region in the home of FIRST, Manchester, NH.

Thanks BAE!