[seanwitte]

Of the two bad options, how can anyone pick Mentor Designed/Student Built? Do we want students leaving the program to feel like engineers or machinists? In the current global economy, which do you think is more valuable: the person designing the product or the person building it? I would rather see a team spend 5 weeks on design, have THEIR parts made for them, and spend a day assembling than spend 1 week on design and the rest at the mill. Fabrication is fun and rewarding and requires skill, but it should not be the primary focus.

That said, FIRST is not life. As an adult volunteer its fun to get in there an get my hands dirty since its not part of my regular job. I'm sure most other adults feel the same way. The third obvious, but unavailable, answer is full collaboration throughout the lifecycle.