[Matt Reiland]

The first year that I saw the Delphi teams, I almost fell over in amazement.

In a team's first year it is hard to even imagine what the capabilities of a robot, designed and built in just weeks, could be capable of. And my first impression was whoa who built that, the skunk works?

But then I, like many others, realized that asking almost any student on the teams left you with the impression that they knew how it was designed, how to drive it and how to repair it. And on top of that there was no feeling that anything was hidden.
Just look at the technical knowledge handed out on this site alone.

I sometimes feel bad because the attitude on our team seems to be its ours or its yours; some feel the sponsor is just a source of funds. The worst thing for me was to see a design get built that was an obvious disaster that spent valuable time and money when something better could have been made. Experience from parents and engineers can highlight design errors that aren't obvious especially to people without a background in mechanics or electronics. My personal opinion on FIRST is that it is designed to get students excited about engineering, see whats possible, and to maybe become the scientists, engineers and Technical Graphics superstars of the future. I don't think the goal was for students to build robots and give parts to engineers to have machined or welded. Working together to come up with the slickest design, the most robust and efficient design, that’s the goal. One of the reasons people get so upset on this topic is because some people (like me) are a little jealous at the time, design, and execution that some of the teams are able to pull off. I leave the competition each year amazed at the features, construction, and in general the attitude of the teams that come there to win.

Remember the word TEAM, it's the buzzword in every corporation right now.