Getting Mentors out of Comfort zone

[cglrcng]

I am not belittling your problem at all (and agree w/ your "No Team, no names" approach to getting much input here and advice on CD). So please understand when I say this, our Team Founder (a Legacy team, though not a very first year FIRSTer), and he has been our Industry & Lead Mentor for, year in, year out without fail (alone and with help), and his employer Our Platinum Level Sponsor, more than 19 years now....Would just LOVE to have the problem you personally currently have of "Our Engineers" just don't like change. (It is the "Our Engineers" part), he would love as a temporary change to have that issue once in a while, as he's the "go to guy" w/ the student team members, in all robots and robot design usually.

In the past few years, if he was out of town, sometimes the team (students mainly), would not make much real build progress until he returned, then back on track they'd go. This year I now understand, they just did it, even though he was out of town on work for a part of the build season. They wanted it a lil' different, they bought in FULLY and just did it, and they got their wish, and the success that follows.

___________________________________
Added: Quoted from above (This thread isn't asking how successful your team is or has been, it is asking for help getting mentors to try new things).


Sry Advice,

Most of what I wrote in multiple posts above, and below wasn't really advice directed at you....Just sharing what recently worked for our team. Maybe the great volunteer Mentors will read it and think....Does this possibly apply to our team?

If you do not think your 10+ year FIRST Engineer Mentors are reading CD...You are only really fooling yourself. I know they are, they know they are, and most of the very recent experience I conveyed above, was really aimed at them. They should change because it isn't about only robots, it is about Students & STEM Education...And FIRST Robot Competitions.
___________________________________
If I personally led a University where Engineering Degrees were earned, I personally would give George Williams an honorary Degree in Engineering. He's more than earned it. (He's actually a Master Machinist, that teaches graduated and non-grad. machinists "On The Job" for a major mechanical engineering & builder firm in one of the largest machine shops I have ever actually seen (Laron, Inc. in the last few years Built the LARGEST CRANE IN THE WORLD & The HIGH ROLLER in Las Vegas, right here in our small town in Northern, AZ ...Yes, it was assembled there in Las Vegas, but they built and/or manufactured it right here)...Not to ever be confused w/ "Team 987 The High Rollers" (a huge building operation in their own right). But now the largest moving ferris wheel in the world, and the newest high observing point in Las Vegas, NV). Our team visited it last week when competing there, it doesn't stop, you just walk on while it continues moving...40 person pods.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Roller_(Ferris_wheel)

http://www.viator.com/tours/Las-Vega...=204&aid=m7545

http://www.vegas.com/attractions/on-...ller-las-vegas

NOT Sry, Sponsor plug(s) here;

And LARON, Inc. is our longtime Platinum Sponsor....Team 60 is lucky to have both of them (and a recently returned highly educated Mentor in Brenton also), and much other great support from a great group of other Education and Parent/Past Parent stick around type longterm Mentors.

But, George has always been the heart & heartbeat of this long at it legacy Team (He and his wife Crystal "The Longtime Quer" anf FIRST WIDOW as she refers to herself in jest often, both live and breathe FIRST).

Small town & community team (3 High Schools/and some home schooled students to make 1 Combined Team even work every year). Some years are Wins Lean, some much, much stronger....But always competitors and educators...Truly inspiring to witness at work.

"Our Design & Engineer Mentors"...Would certainly be an issue George would love to have at least once in his lifetime at this point for this team. OK, not necessarily this year per se.

He does though like to have a student designed & built robot though (that does not always happen, so he's always ready to step in when necessary too. But, everything must be a "total team effort." We succeed or we fail together, but every student is inspired. And every trip to the Championships must be earned, and sometimes they earned it, and don't go because they just don't think it is competitive enough to win. (Finances always play part & parcel in this game too).

And every one of them (the students), that shows any interest whatsoever in designing & machining parts on any machine in our teams shop (no matter where that may be this year, or next, or the year after that...See, we don't yet own a building, or have a permanent home building, though that is in the works now, but we have much George over the years, scrounged & fixed up, & purchased machines, equipment, tools, parts, and materials...We have stuff in a conex container I never even saw before, until mucho totes were needed this year for designing and practice). They get a class A+ education in becoming a real machinist (and many other crafts too), and can, and do go to work sometimes, for local aircraft parts manufacturers machining & making high grade aircraft one off parts (while still in High School), making quite a decent wage for the work Avail. AROUND HERE. (My youngest Son, now in College did too).

He (Our Son & many, many others before and after him), will always have that highly & CAREFULLY learned HIGH VALUE Craft, and real work experience (Thank You George Williams & Brackett Aircraft...another of our Very Valuable Sponsors), to lean back on in the future, no matter where his life takes him. And We'll never be able to thank George & Crystal, Laron, Inc., or Brackett Aircraft enough for that. Ever! (Adding in all the names would create another book long post...You know who you ALL ARE!) So, I won't this time.

But, we sit far from any major metro areas, where we can easily attract a group of working Mechanical, Design, and/or Electrical Engineers, to our year round Team project as Mentors....Yet. (We did have 1 for our FTC Team we started 3 years ago, provided as a Volunteer also, by our also Very Valuable Chrysler Proving Ground Sponsors, but he also lived, and worked a good ways away in 2 different directions, and could not commit the time to both FTC & FRC at the same time). That was a huge triangle drive he made when he could. And we appreciate him too!

There are Pro's and Con's to everything, is all I'm trying to say. I think the Engineer poster input & advice you seek here on CD is going to be very valuable to you with the issue you & the students face. At least I hope so for a reasonable resolution.

A smooth tactful approach, maybe mentors only firstly, away from the rest of the team, then add slowly the entire team in a real get away from the shop type relaxed "just talk it out" type getaway day meeting.

The last thing to risk, is chasing away 10 year Engineer Volunteer Mentors. OR SPONSORS either, like yourself!

I wish you well, and will sit back now for a while.
___________________
I just learned something...I wonder how I get "The Arup Group" to send us a few of their best Engineers as Industry Volunteers? (They actually Engineered The High Roller, among many other huge beautiful large projects throughout the world, and they have 87 offices the world over...Surely they can spare a few great Engineers...LOL). I personally saw major pcs. being built locally (The Pods), and I finally just read the actual wiki entry about it myself a minute ago!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arup_Group_Limited