[Richard Wallace]

Anyone for another thread revival?

I, Richard Wallace, was sent by my employer during the first week of 1996 to visit Deka Research & Development, where I met Dean Kamen. Dean immediately convinced my boss (not connected with FIRST since then) that Emerson should start a FIRST team, so I stayed over Friday night, attended the FRC kickoff Saturday morning and returned to STL with a kit of parts... but I digress. Dean's self-propelled inverted pendulum, code-named Ginger, attracted the attention of entrepreneur John Doerr, who knew my boss through previous business deals. He later became one of the main investors in Segway LLC ... but I digress again. John's sister Susie Mathieu became a member of the FIRST board of directors and started the St. Louis Regional planning committee, another rich opportunity for digression, but I won't go there. Last year, our committee decided to (1) hold a Fall Training Camp for robotics in November and (2) host an FVC Pilot event in December, so Susie contacted Tony Norman to get some help from IFI. To make sure that we got the best technical guidance available, Tony dispatched the incomparable JVN.