[rwood359]

The problem with attracting practicing engineers is that most engineers don't work a 40 hour week. Fifty and sixty hour weeks are not uncommon. Add family time and there is precious little left for mentoring.

I would see if you can attract some about to retire or newly retired engineers. The demands on their time are substantially less. We have several retired mentors on 359. Some of us come in Tuesday and Thursday for 3 or 4 hours from the start of school til build season and every day during build season.

I read about the team in the fall of 2007 and "stalked" them by reading the daily updates to their web site during the 2008 build season. I attended the 1st Hawaii Regional. Two days wandering around the pits talking to the mentors, volunteers, and kids was enough to convince me that it was something that I wanted to do.

Here are some of the rewards that you can tell them about:
1. It could save their marriage. My wife didn't want me home 24/7 anyway.
2. Learning new things is good for you. I had to learn about robotics, LabVIEW, and how to teach. My doctor said "That's great. You will grow these long things in your brain that will keep the dementia away."
3. THE KIDS! They'll keep you young, they'll make you laugh, and they'll give you great pride. I tell my friends that the robot is the kids product and the kids are the mentors product. And I am very proud of our (FIRST's, not just 359's) product.