Oklahoma or Texas Teams?

Are there any Oklahoma or Texas(specifically the Texas A&M area) teams out there? I might be moving there this year.

[Kevin Sevcik]

There's a large number of teams in the Houston area. If you're REALLY serious about starting a team in the A&M area, I'm an alum and I've got some connections that could probably get you funding as long as you could gather the necessary student mentors. There's a decent number of ex-FIRSTERs up there, but they need organizing. And you'd need to be highly committed to the whole thing, as A&M is pretty serious BEST country.

[tiffany34990]

oklahoma teams...talk to barry bonzack from 1604...i believe he knows of some...

texas..there has to be...where exactly i dunno...

[Barry Bonzack]

Well Boomer Sooner.

There are 5 teams in Oklahoma and 28 teams in texas.

There are plenty of good teams in texas. Looking at the FIRST site team 1205 is in Bruni TX, and is sponsored by A&M.

For Oklahoma, it might be a bit of a distance for you if you are near College Station, however the man you'll want to talk to would be Ken York and team 476. They are an awesome team and have been very helpful to me many times. Mr. Yorks CD name is UCGL_Guy

I live in Florida, so there is a limited amount of help I can provide, so I hope this is a good start. If there is anything more I can do feel free to send me a PM.

[Joe Ross]

Originally Posted by Barry Bonzack1604

There are plenty of good teams in texas. Looking at the FIRST site team 1205 is in Bruni TX, and is sponsored by A&M.

The problem is that Bruni is over 300 miles from College Station (where the main A&M campus is).

[Kevin Sevcik]

BREAKING NEWS: In a coincidence far too big to be anything but destiny, I just got done talking with an Engineering Tech prof at A&M who has been tasked with bringing more design competitions back to A&M. And he's very interested in getting a FIRST team or two up there to be mentored by A&M students. So! I'll be pursuing this and will update any interested parties. It's looking very favorable at the moment, however.

[UCGL_Guy]

Great News - Kevin
We could have the first super regional in Houston this year if we get the new teams we are working on here in good ol okrahoma.
We have an excellent relationship with Oklahoma State here and their Dean of Engineering fully supports FIRST. Let me know if we can be of assistance in any way.
Ken

There is a greater chance that I will be moving to Atoka, OK. However, both high schools in the area are not in FIRST yet. Is there anyone in the area that is a FIRST'er and might be willing to help start a team in the area?

[UCGL_Guy]

Well Atoka puts you south of OKC and way south of Ponca - but not a problem - we have long distanced teams before. Team 148 from the Dallas area is also a great team -- If you are interested in getting a team started in that are check out our websiteto help new news.
www.okrobotics.com
My email is yorkkm@yahoo.com
drop a line and I'll do what I can from my end..
Ken

[Andrew Schuetze]

Originally Posted by UCGL_Guy

Great News - Kevin
We could have the first super regional in Houston this year if we get the new teams we are working on here in good ol okrahoma.
We have an excellent relationship with Oklahoma State here and their Dean of Engineering fully supports FIRST. Let me know if we can be of assistance in any way.
Ken

Okay,

San Antonio is over due for new teams and more mentor support for at least two of the three teams is needed. UT-San Antonio got a new Engineering Dean three years ago who was associated with FIRST in San Francisco and as she brings in more new Dept. Chairs maybe things will improve.
A sign of progress in that area is that the new, this Fall, M.E. dean was a FIRST mentor with Motorola in Florida and then with a team at UT - Arlington. He came out and brought a fellow new member on the staff to my campus about three times during the build. I had hoped for more but having him on campus was a major break through.

What kinds of things is OSU doing to support teams?

I plan to met with the ME and EE department chairs and the staff teaching the senior design project classes this June. My current proposal is to have a senior design team from both ME and EE classes have our robot team as a client and sponsor. Our parts budget could handle their design project needs if they work with our students and design say ....

Those of you who are FIRST alumni and upper level engineering students help me out with what to propose.


Thanks,


APS

[Andrew Schuetze]

Originally Posted by Kevin Sevcik

BREAKING NEWS: In a coincidence far too big to be anything but destiny, I just got done talking with an Engineering Tech prof at A&M who has been tasked with bringing more design competitions back to A&M. And he's very interested in getting a FIRST team or two up there to be mentored by A&M students. So! I'll be pursuing this and will update any interested parties. It's looking very favorable at the moment, however.

This is both surprising and welcome news. It was just as big a shocker to see the Texas BEST competition move to SMU last year. I know that BEST wants to bring more technology to their program with the TI/Hyperception/SMU Infinity Kits and program. So my guess was that SMU activily recruited the Texas BEST competition to help move that process along.

Please keep us up to date via the forums as more develops.

APS

[UCGL_Guy]

OSU has supplied us with students to aid in electrical and mechanical engineering design and programming. Dr. Reid Dean of engineering has also helped to try and gear up FIRST in Oklahoma. He works with our teams here to help to grow. If you need help or guidance let me know. One student who helped us these last two years is going to work for national instruments in Austin --- he may provide some input.
Ken