[lukevanoort]

Well, from a purely competitive point of view, student built makes more sense. Since there are more students (I hope), the chances of not having one that worked on apart and can fix it are much lower. So, for durability, the students building seems to be a better alternative. But, we must remember that creativity peaks at ~13, so student designs would be, on average, better if they had the same knowledge/experience. So, say, if the student browses CD, and reads tech books and specializes in an area specific to FIRST, then designs in that area they would probably be more creative.