So, you're not an engineer! How do you help your team??

[nobrakes8]

I'm a student on 1071. I specialize in manufacturing (machineing). I'm an apprentice tool maker for Utitec Inc. which does ultra precision machineing, so I pretty much can machine anything square, rectangular, round, from aluminum material (light and soft) to CPM 10V (very hard and heavy) material. I can machine just about anything you could imagine. If team 1071 needs a part pretty accurate i could machine by hand up to .0003" to .0005" (ten thousandths) tolerences if they need me to.(Usually in robotics we're just handed parts and use dial calipers and stuff just to get sizes close within a few thousandths of the size they need) In the future I hope to become a general manager or plant manager at a manufacturing shop and get a degrees in mechanical engineering and some type of business administration degree.

[Cory]

Over the last four years I've done some of pretty much everything with the exception of animation and programming.

I like mechanical stuff the best. I do CAD, design, build, all that good stuff.

The last two years I've done a lot of leadership stuff along with most of the day to day runnings of the team.

I've also been lucky enough to get to actually go out on the field and compete one way or another for the last three years.

Cory

[meaubry]

Adult mentors:
How do you help your team? I'm the team co-leader and usually, do many things to help the team, both administrative stuff and technical stuff, such as;
planning and reviewing the budget, participating in the leadership committee meetings where most of the travel type decisions are made, recruit company employees, act as the communication link to the rest of the engineers and company management, and approve spending requests. I lead the brainstorming at kickoff, lead the fabrication and assembly of the robots. I plan the robot build - maintain the schedule and assure the weight requirement is met. Help out with the design of the robot, hold daily lunchtime design/build review meetings during the build cycle, and assist in maintaining the Bill of Materials. I order parts and material needed. I usually work with the drive team - selection and tryouts as well as, practice with them and on the field coaching (sometimes). I am on the Pit team, set up tear down, and help maintain/repair the robot during the events. I work very closely with the team leaders at the school to make sure we are all on the same page regarding our goals and aspirations.

What's your current career? At this time I am leading the implementation of Configuration Management at our division and work closely with all of the business functions but mainly deal with Engineering and Information Technology (IT) departments. I have a MS and BS in Management, but started out going for a BS in Engineering, but then changed my career choice to Secondary Education (Industrial - Drafting, Machine Shop, etc.) Landed a great Design job just before the 2nd to last semester in my senior year and worked in Design/Engineering for many years. While working, I choose to finish up on my education by pursuing a Business degree at night. I had aspirations of managing or starting my own business someday. In fact, I did manage our Design Services group and Prototype Administration group prior to this last assignment. In the evenings (during the off season), I teach class at Baker College in Auburn Hills. I usually teach Mechanical Drawing, CAD, and Design type classes.

Is this related to what you help out with on the team? Yes, I think the things that I do or have done during my career are very related to what I do for our team. I would encourage everyone to give being part of a FIRST team a try, as I tell folks when recruiting at work - the only requirements for participating is 1) you are committed to encouraging students to consider a career in Science and Technology, and 2) you really care about helping students. Everyone has something to offer - theres plenty to do to keep a team going and maintaining a successful program.

[Beth Sweet]

The way that I helped my team can be described in two letters. P.R. I have a very large mouth (as anyone who knows me well knows) and I am not afraid to talk to people. I have done not only a lot of documentation on the HOT Team, but I have also shown a lot of people in FIRST "a new perspective of the team." I'm very proud of the work that I've been able to do, even though I'm not an engineer.

[J Flex 188]

Plenty. plenty you can do to help your team

try FLL, even if youre not an engineering oriented person you can help these kids. if your team doesnt mentor an FLL team, look into the matter if you have the resources.

if you dont have the resources, look into your teams fundraising situation, begin by identifying local sponsors and work upwards from there, look over cover letters, proposals, presentations and deliver a well-versed appeal for funds.

build season, LEARN. im looking to do so much more machining and whatever else on 188 next year based on the fact i know i can handle the non-techinical side of it with the same speed and precision say tristan would have on those gearboxes (hahahahaha).

read the rules, interpret them for your team, handle things like meeting organisation, whos going to bring food, documentation of the season, awareness in school and everything else in between. theres plenty to do. plenty.

[KathieK]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

Adult mentors:
How do you help your team?
What's your current career?
Is this related to what you help out with on the team?

I am entering my fourth year on RAGE as an adult mentor. I have been the travel coordinator; "secretary" who creates and disseminates the meeting agendas and minutes; I create and disseminate the monthly newsletter which goes to sponsors, school administrators, and town officials; chaperone; mentor for the Chairman's Award committee; mentor for the Awards committee; participated on our Hospitality committee. Assisted our team leader with many administrative functions.

Co-founded FIRST NEMO (non-engineering mentor organization) this spring with Jenny Beatty (Team 007) and Cheryl Miller (Team 294). We hope to bring workshops for adult mentors on all things non-engineering to the Regional Competitions this coming season.

I started out wanting to write children's literature. I obtained an associates degree and certification as a library technical assistant and went to work for United Technologies Corporation (UTC) in the late 70s so I was working for engineers and scientists for 25 years. At the end of my career there I was maintaining the library web site after we went virtual in the late 90s. After being laid off I obtained my current position maintaining the web site for a small private women's college. My current position has had little impact on what I do for the team; my previous position taught me about establishing goals, implementing business procedures, communicating, punctuality, and nurtured my detail-oriented approach to life, which drives my family crazy. I bring much of that to the team (my extended family). I'm sure it drives them crazy, too!

[MissInformation]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

Adult mentors:
How do you help your team?
What's your current career?
Is this related to what you help out with on the team?

For the most part, I am the main photographer for the team. I also work on team spirit and outreach. I'm one of the adults who have been through the security check for the school, which allows us to have meetings without a teacher being present. I also supply lots and lots of sugar (lollipops, cookies, brownies, toffee bark...). And as of last year, I now (*shudder*) chaperone on trips.

My job title is "Covenants Counselor". I work for the homeowners association for one of the largest planned communities in the country, and my job is to inspect houses for maintenance violations and design violations (see, I told you I was an Evil Overlord) and to help people with Design Review Board applications, and to help clusters keep their standards updated (each town house development is a "cluster" with their architectural standards). I'm responsible for 2,198 homes in 33 different clusters. No, I don't really see how my job is related to what I do on the team (other than the fact that I do a lot of photography for my job as well as for the team). But my job has taught me to be really calm in stressful situations. And I guess constantly working with homeowners has helped me with doing outreach. Before becoming a counselor, I was a meeting coordinator and helped facilitate DRB meetings and wrote minutes and such... (ick, minutes!)

Heidi

[RoboMom]

Adult mentors:
How do you help your team?
What's your current career?
Is this related to what you help out with on the team?

I was asked to help during a big transition with mentors 3 years ago, had a crash course in FIRST and stayed on. I’ve helped with all the non-engineering aspects of running a team. Business plan, budgets, travel, approaching sponsors, parent involvement, communicating what the team is doing, setting up systems for getting from point A to point B. I often bring up the “ethics” of a decision. Staying organized. My goal is to always help set it up so this very student run team can continue to do it themselves and take ownership. I am a factotum. My son is team president this year and I hope to move on to helping with a regional. He has been so mature about having his mom on the team.

I was a Project Coordinator for many research studies at Johns Hopkins for years and those are the skills that I use with the team. It’s amazing how many of the skills are the same. I am a RN with a Masters degree in Public Health. I have worked on many “Indian” reservations and with the Amish and continue to be interested in cross-culture issues and issues that affect the world. I often see things in terms of the big picture.

But careers have not been linear for me and I am often juggling a few things at the same time. I am a former forest ranger and have taught outdoor education one day/week for the past 15 years. I have been a school nurse. I love being around kids. I am taking a little break from Hopkins now. For the past 2 years, I've worked part time as a “descriptive analyst” for the McCormick company. I have the ability to taste, smell and describe products. So I work in a group that helps McCormick develop new products, foods you’ve all probably eaten. Team 007 is hoping to have a few more fundraising taste-testings this year!

FIRST is amazing in that it is about science and technology. But it is so much more. It is one of the best educational programs I’ve ever seen, despite the fact that I'm still at a loss to describe pneumatics .

[tiffany34990]

as a student on my teams well umm good ? how do i help--well i'm in the pit crew so basically i help clean up, find the tools for the engineers-- i help make the parts-- i love the work on the lathe and milling machine and drill press is good too-- remember stuff for the guys on the team--i'm the person they usually make find something or do something and as a veteran and all i oversee things and help out in various things like fundraising, improvements, teaching the rookies, website and all the fun stuff

but i want to go into medical research--doen't really help the team--but later on in the community and the world

everyone helps though in their own way-- it's a great big family i see it as- pretty much during the 6 weeks the ppl on u'r team that's who u see and deal with through the good times and bad times

[Koko Ed]

I answered this in a NEMO thread.

I am a third year animation mentor on team 191 the X-Cats.
My wife, who is a teacher at Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School (computer programming) was offered to join the team by another teacher at the school, Peggy Foos. My wife asked if I wanted to join and do animation which I always wanted to do.
I work at Xerox as a meterials handler which is basically a fork truck driver, I must be the only one involved in FIRST. I have worked at Xerox for over 16 years. I also attend RIT majoring in Computer Graphics and Fine Arts (which I guess means I could have been a Visioneer or even a Finney Falcon, then again I could have been a Sparx as well) and I am now three courses away from a Bachelors Degree, I had first attended RIT to do animation (but those courses were only for graduate students not for part time night students) Over ten years later I get the opportunity to do animation for the X-Cats.
I also do major artistic endevors like the massive banner we bring along to the competitions and this year worked on the parts crate and at the competitions I am a chaperone (help my wife and Mrs. Foos make sure the kids are where they are supposed to be and that they have money, food, ect.)

[Steve Howland]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

Students:
How do you help your team??
What path have you chosen to pursue as a career in life? (AKA: What do you want to to be when you grow up?)
Does this future have anything to do with how you help your team currently?

During the season I ran the pit and helped repair the bot, and in the off-season I operated and once again worked in the pit. Now I am creating the website (up Wednesday with luck) and will be working on Chairman's and doing more operating next season.

Not really sure what I will be when I grow up...but whatever it is will heavily involve math (strongest/favorite subject).

I guess my jobs don't have too much to do with math but website development is like a puzzle so in a way the two are related.

[Ryan Foley]

Heres what I have done over my 4 years:
-Restarted the team from scratch sophomore year.
-Captain since sophomore year (my other favorite part)
-basic design
-detailed design
-mechanical construction
-electrical construction
-control system design/ hookup (my favorite part)
-programmer (at one point the only programmer, but this year i just helped come up with the basics of what it should do)
-driver
-coach
-scouting
-strategist
-rules expert
-webmaster (during 2002/2003, this year our programming expert took that over)


now I am an alumni hoping to come back next year and help when and where i can

i'll edit this if i forgot something, which i probably did.

[Alex Pelan]

This year my"job title" was controls, which covers electronics and programming. However, since two kids decided to stay late and come in early the day before I was supposed to start wiring, when I came back, there was no wiring to be done. So, I mostly did assorted odd jobs, and helped pre-wiring on the controls board. I also tended to do a lot of "go get me a ____" jobs. Fun stuff! At this point in time, I am looking into an EE and/or a Computer Science major(emphasis on the and).

Seacrest Out!

[Aaron Knight]

My primary end is organization. While I have programming experience, and things like that, I find myself less involved in it. I like to tinker, but I give in to the experience of actual engineers and the students who know more about what they're doing.

[Mike]

As far as I know im the programming team... ted said the programmer left last year >.<