[Kevin Leonard]

One of the things that I don't like about college-level engineering competitions is that many of them have the same task each year.

Take Formula SAE Racing-
The challenge every year is to build a fast vehicle that wins races.

It doesn't have the variety of games that FIRST offers. It doesn't have the in-depth game strategy or defense that FIRST offers. (Or at least it doesn't seem to. I've never been a big fan of sports or competitions that don't allow for weaker athletes/competitors to win by playing intelligently- but that's a different discussion.)

Many of these competitions are about making incremental improvements on previous designs- many of which are important engineering challenges, and I'm not trying to knock those who do these competitions whatsoever- I just don't find much enjoyment in them personally.

I would love a collegiate version of FIRST personally. I would love a collegiate robotics competition with an open ended game to study and design new solutions for- not a robotics skills challenge.

However, I also think the lack of a collegiate FIRST competition can be good for FRC teams- college student mentors can be a huge help.