[rsilverstein]

**Disclosure: the thoughts and ideas expressed below do not in any way reflect that of Team 1717 or those involved with the team and this decision.**

That being said, I am very sad about this announcement. I personally think it's the wrong decision but recognize the place it's coming from. I think the fundamental nature of going down the path of Mechatronics over FRC is that of Education vs. Inspiration.

It says it right in the name: For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. FIRST is about inspiring people to get into STEM. It has done the best job of gamifying STEM that the world has ever seen. It's fun and exciting and even allows for spectators to get into it. Dean has said it himself many times, that he can't wait for the day when our scientists and engineers are as celebrated as our professional athletes. FIRST does a great job to make that come alive.

What FIRST isn't, however, is fully focused on education. The teams who come up with the best robot and have the best drivers are celebrated. The kids and mentors are all driven (to crazy/amazing extents) by this one specific goal. To design/build/drive the best robot, you need to specialize in tasks and divide up the labor. You set up various sub-teams and pin-point one specific aspect of the robot to perfect. You work day and night to make sure that, come Gameday, you win. It's also a very short build-season and has required the DPEA to set up a structure where you have 3.5 years of "practice" and 4 months of the "real thing." I'm not too familiar with Mechatronics but from what I gather... the students are able to work on a much more comprehensive set of tasks and challenges. The coders get to machine. The machiners get to design. The designers get to code. Without having this super high-intensity challenge, it does allow for students to get a much more well-rounded STE(A)M education.

Now why do I think this is the wrong path to go down? Because I don't actually think it should be about the education over inspiration. Team 1717 has earned such an impressive local (and FIRST-wide) reputation of engineering excellence, compassion, teamwork and competitiveness, that they themselves become the inspiration for other teams in the community. 1717 has mandated for as long as it could, that the program would be 50/50 men & women. 1717 goes to all the local junior highs to give demos and presentations and recruit applicants of hundreds of 13 year-olds who now want to do engineering for high school. 1717 helped inspire a book that further encouraged people to go into engineering.

By focusing on education, the DPEA might end up with the most well-rounded, qualified, high school graduates in the country, but the influence of 1717 went well beyond that. The DPEA now will be much more insular. It won't have a broader community to connect with and be inspired by themselves. FRC also goes well beyond high school. I now have coworkers who I can talk to about FIRST. I'm 8 years out of the program and still follow the FRC competition closely. In my opinion, this intangible inspiration has been discounted in making this decision and will decrease the overall lasting impact that this program has given myself, my peers, and the community at large.

Hopefully time will prove me wrong and the DPEA continues to thrive and grow. I have full faith in the leadership of the program and so far they seem to have gotten things right. 1717 will be missed.