Mentors: What's something you wish you knew going in?

[ILAMtitan]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

How addicting it would be. I would probably still be married if I was better prepared for the amount of time I spent roboting.

My senior design professor in college actually warned us about this. After putting in untold hours and effort into a major project, the elation at the first time it works is an indescribable feeling. It also seems to effect some people differently. For me, I want to jump back in do it again, but for some of our other mentors they are content with less time spent in the shop.

In that vein, it really is a matter of getting out of it what you put in. The more time we spend there, and the more investment we have in the team, the more rewarding it is.

Also, in contrast to the fun, there is a lot of behind the scenes stuff that mentors end up taking care of; the less glamorous side of engineering that mostly entails paperwork. Inventory, purchase orders, travel documents, transport rentals, insurance, team finances, logistics...it really adds up sometimes.