Where can I sign up? No seriously, this is very exciting stuff. The Engineering school I went to had both Senior Design and Sophomore design for the very reasons that Woodie mentioned. I didn't realize how fortunate I was until I spent time in Industry and found out that many did not get those opportunities. Even with the extra design time, I still feel that 50% of my "education" came from extracurricular projects offered at the school.
A quick but hopefully meaningful story:
Right before I graduated, my school had something called the ME Forum, where the profs asked the students, what did we do good vs. what did we do wrong. One senior, who had been awarded the Outstanding ME award (only given to 1 student of 250 each year) from the faculty stood up and said, "I wish I got the opportunity to do more Hands On projects." The faculty were taken back that this student made such a comment especially after recieveing the highest undergraduate award. While they were stammering for an answer, I stood up and asked what projects she took on herself (she was a good friend of mine, so I could challenge her). She had numerous leadership examples, but no technical examples. I told her she failed herself, because this school had a ton of extracurricular activities she could have been involved in. Afterwords the assistant dean thanked me for bringing that up.
My point with this argument is I agree with Woodie for the need for change, but I feel it is available to those looking for it. For those of you hoping that hope that Woodie gets this going before you go to college, make sure you use the opportunities available to you while you are there. This doesn't mean another 4 years of FIRST. This means joining a tech club and building a racecar or dunebuggy. Participating in an ASME or IEEE design challenge competition. Join a team doing a DARPA project. DO SOMETHING! Real education is like many other things in the world worth finding, some may stumble across it on accident, but for most it will take some effort and initiative on the student's part to find it.
Remember, the kid in High School that focuses on taking the easiest classes often ends up working the hardest job for the lowest pay. That is not Karma folks, that is simple Investing 101.
Also make sure you balance this "education" with Woody's "training", or your grammar may be worse than mine.....
