Max Age for FRC Participants?

[gblake]

Originally Posted by bduddy

Technically, there is nothing (aside possibly from child labor laws) preventing a FRC team from being composed entirely of adults, and hiring for pay students off the street to drive the robot.

(I'm curious - has there ever been an FRC team such as this? I'm not talking about another mentor/student-built debate, I'm talking about a team that didn't even pretend to have students as the focus or major element.)

This mentality, run amok, is one of the dystopian futures I worry about when I (in my personal opinion) see robot-excellence crowding out exposing-students-to-STEM in some CD conversations.

And, I have toyed with a non-mean-spirited version of the idea myself; especially when thinking about student/mentor fun in off-season events.

That sort of possible unintended consequence (the quoted thought) is definitely something to keep in mind when thinking about changing FRC or similar programs.

You get more of what you reward and celebrate ... AKA ... The dog you feed grows.

That said, coming up with a way to use FRC to attract students to STEM careers, regardless of whether the careers include a 4-year college stint, sounds 110% thumbs up to me.

Blake