In 2007, 1618 brought seven students, a PLTW teacher, an EE, and a marketing major to the Palmetto Regional to
some degree of success.
What would I cite as things that helped us do well?
1) Cut back. All 1618 had this year was the robot--no WFA nomination, no Chairman's submission, no FLL or FVC teams, nada. I wish we could do more, but sometimes it just can't be done with the number of folks on board.
2) Have good people. We didn't have many folks qualify to travel, but the ones we had were aware of our limitations and what had to be done--and they delivered. There is no substitute for having a group of people willing to bust their humps when needed.
3) Know that your other limits have gone nowhere. You can't fundraise particularly well with seven kids and three mentors, something that influenced our robot design--the arm structure was mostly angle aluminum, PVC pipe, pegboard, velcro, and laminated paper. Keeping that simple allowed us to keep most of the fabrication (everything except the printing and bearing pressing) in our shop, which kept the kids we did have busy.
4) Look forward. In the time after Palmetto, we hatched a few schemes to help grow the team, and make sure they stick with the team on through to build (the problem that put us in our position last season). We'll see if they stick.