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Who turned that bolt? Who welded that joint? Who drilled that hole? Now that's INSPIRATIONAL!
The point that Dean is trying to make with this very complex experience, (which includes everyone involved) is that Inspiring students to CONSIDER the Science, Math, and all of the Technology fields does NOT demand student building the robots.
Its not even about Learning about robots, all that is a BONUS.
The confusion is in the interpretation of "HOW to INSPIRE!" Its NOT about WHO built your robot! It's about - Did we inspire the students to either continue or consider a future in the areas that we all know and love (Engineering, Math, Science, Bio-Medical, Computers, etc)
Successful programs accomplish this regardless of Who Built the Robot - instead of this question why not ask, "Did we successfully Inspire the students? What is our track record? How many are interested enough to continue their education in a related field? How many student team members would be willing to say that they continue to be, or are now committed to pursueing a degree because of what they witnessed by participating on the FIRST team?
That to me is what is important - by the way, I also commend ALL of the teams that are 0 to 100% student built robots - But, Don't confuse the ends with the means.
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