will ford first do it again

[Nuttyman54]

Originally Posted by seraphim33

our sponsors do i thought they did that 4 everybody

Not in the least. Some sponsors are purely monetary. They pay your registration fee, and that's it. Some contribute more, like mentors or shop space. But being a sponsor in itself carries no commitment to provide robot support

[seraphim33]

Originally Posted by Nuttyman54

Not in the least. Some sponsors are purely monetary. They pay your registration fee, and that's it. Some contribute more, like mentors or shop space. But being a sponsor in itself carries no commitment to provide robot support

but just about every ford team i know has a ford mentor

[Katie Reynolds]

Originally Posted by seraphim33

but just about every ford team i know has a ford mentor

We're a Ford (and GM, and DaimlerChrysler) team and have no professional mentors, period. Just college students. (ETA) Not that that's a bad thing, we get by just fine. Of course, if we had the opportunity for professional mentors, we would gladly take them!!

[MattB703]

Originally Posted by Nuttyman54

Not in the least. Some sponsors are purely monetary. They pay your registration fee, and that's it. Some contribute more, like mentors or shop space. But being a sponsor in itself carries no commitment to provide robot support

Hi all

I just want to point out in reference to the above; I was one of these "professional mentors" for 8 years and I have never felt that Delphi was "providing me" to the team. In fact my mentoring or not mentoring the team has had very little to do with the Delphi monetary suport.

Matt B.

[Beth Sweet]

From what I know of Ford and GM teams, I would imagine that they would have an advantage over others. To the best of my knowledge, both have a very strong stance that their teams will have their engineers. On HOT, we had over 10 GM engineers. Obviously, having that kind of engineering knowledge contributing to a team will give them competitive advantage.

And that's why FIRST, in my mind, is so much better than other science programs. When highschoolers get a chance to work with professional engineers, who knows what could happen!?

[Swan217]

Not to nitpick (All right, ONLY to nitpick), but 217 isn't as much a "Ford FIRST" team as a collaborative team. Of the main mentors on the team, there is 1 Ford (Retired) Engineer, 1 Visteon (Retired) Engineer, 3 FANUC Robotics Engineers, 1 college student, 1 Ambulance Medic, and 3 UCS teachers. This is why the name is "Ford/FANUC/UCS The ThunderChickens"

Having said that, 60, 247 and 217 are all strong contenders this year. 1718 (Armada Acadamy) should also do very well.

[Craig Roys]

Originally Posted by Dan Swando

Not to nitpick (All right, ONLY to nitpick), but 217 isn't as much a "Ford FIRST" team as a collaborative team. Of the main mentors on the team, there is 1 Ford (Retired) Engineer, 1 Visteon (Retired) Engineer, 3 FANUC Robotics Engineers, 1 college student, 1 Ambulance Medic, and 3 UCS teachers. This is why the name is "Ford/FANUC/UCS The ThunderChickens"

Having said that, 60, 247 and 217 are all strong contenders this year. 1718 (Armada Acadamy) should also do very well.

Thanks, but unfortunately, 1718 will not be there. Hopefully next year.

[Dan 1038]

Originally Posted by Beth Sweet

From what I know of Ford and GM teams, I would imagine that they would have an advantage over others.

There are MANY companies, aside from Ford and GM, that offer great mentor support to a number of teams. Off the top of my head: P&G, Delphi, DaimlerChrysler, GE, etc... Our team has a gaggle of P&G engineers, a GE guy, a GM guy and a number of other mentors. Any team with multiple experienced mentors will have a leg up on teams without that knowledge base, the trick - in my opinion - is keeping the mentors over time to ensure continuity year to year.