Elite (invite only) FIRST teams

Hm, I guess I should throw this out in a little bit more detailed form. Here's what my brainsession has come up with so far:

-Applications. The main purpose of this is to target specific subteams, and to simulate applying to a job. The acceptance rate would be around 100%, unless there's a special circumstance.

-Business model for team operation. Students and mentors will have to present, and "sell" ideas for robot and funding to a "board" that will be made up of senior members and Mentors, and basically anyone who happens to be around at the time. Budget will be handled through part and funding requests, in order to simulate a corporate model.

-Leadership. After the team is established, the students will elect a CEO type position. The goal of this position is to see that the teams goals are met. These goals are as follows: To educate students on practical business skills and engineering, and to Keep the team competitive.

-Review. Like any company, the team will have review sessions. In these, they will go back over the season, or build session, and analyze what happened. Necessary changes will be marked, and implemented in the next revision or meeting.

-Location. The team (hopefully) will not be tied to a single school or location. If a student from another team in a different state wishes to help out with the team, they can apply and "telecommute" their work via CAD, internet, and USPS. Just as in a corporate model, there would be limits to this. In order to be considered to be a satellite member, the student/mentor would need to offer some skill or asset that a local member cannot provide.


The main goal here would be to simulate a business model. It wouldn't be a slow, mainstream business model, but more of one closely resembling groups like Lockheed's Skunkworks group; a highly specialized team of engineers working towards a common goal, with a structure surrounding them that allows creativity.