FIRST Seniors -- Where have you gotten in?

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Posted by Matt Leese at 02/24/2001 6:57 AM EST


Other on team #73, Tigerbolt, from Edison Technical HS and Alstom & Fiber Technologies & RIT.


In Reply to: Re: for those of you who dont know..
Posted by Chris Hardman on 02/24/2001 12:00 AM EST:



Just a few hints for you: First of all, don't expect the University to give you much help in the beginning. Look at it from their perspective: A freshman comes along with these big dreams of starting a team and while it all sounds nice, there's no way he'll/she'll pull it off. What you need to do is find a sponsor and a high school and get everything started. Then the University will be more likely to support you. This is just what I've experienced at RIT this year (and this from a University that had a team in the past). Another thing is try and sell it to the University as a recruitment opportunity (RIT loved the fact that FIRST was expecting 20000 people at Nationals this year -- and these are the people the school wants to recruit). If you need any more help (or anyone for that matter), feel free to contact me. Just get used to feeling wierd when teachers ask you how to handle a situation.

Matt who spent way too much time on FIRST and ended up doing too much administration.....

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Posted by Anton Abaya at 02/24/2001 9:49 PM EST


Coach on team #419, Rambots, from UMass Boston / BC High and NONE AT THE MOMENT! .


In Reply to: College Teams...
Posted by Matt Leese on 02/24/2001 6:57 AM EST:



university support is difficult if you have to go through the channels, hence i would agree with Matt.

but dont do that. find the DEAN of ARTS and SCIENCES or whoever is the boss of bosses. Dont bother going to the Department of Engineer DEAN. He will have a lot of work to do and will tell u to go away.

Talk to the bosses of bosses and tell her your plans. Tell him/her that you are going to start this team and are currently looking for financial support from neighboring companies and would like official permission to use the school name. Dont even ask for money. Just inform them that you have intentions of starting a robotics team and you will need to use the school's name. Let them offer if they want to help you out. Just be nice, friendly, etc.

At the very least, if you strike well with the dean, he/she will tell the department of engineering head that the project sounds exhilarating and only then will they go out of their way to help.

Start from the top, and work down.

It's like approaching companies asking for money. It's easier to go straight to the top. Like Dean Kamen would when he'd asked support from big companies. In your case, you're just a student with a lot of enthusiasm.

Good Luck man.

-anton

ps. that's what i did and the dean of arts and sciences slaps me with $2000 without my asking for it and her FULL support.

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Posted by Matt Leese at 02/24/2001 10:36 PM EST


Other on team #73, Tigerbolt, from Edison Technical HS and Alstom & Fiber Technologies & RIT.


In Reply to: i disagree....try this...
Posted by Anton Abaya on 02/24/2001 9:49 PM EST:



Well, that's more or less what we did. We met with the Dean of Engineering (only person higher is the President of the University, our Engineering Dept rates its own college , explained what we were doing, and they said more or less "have fun." They really didn't want too much to do with us at the beginning. They're giving us support now (took 'em until week 4 of construction though) but it took them long enough. And I happen to know they gave substantially more money to the team that existed before (although it should be noted we came in during the middle of a budget cycle). So informing the University of what you're doing is a good idea but expecting much out of them isn't. And getting a college to fully sponsor a team is hard (getting anyone to fully sponsor a team is hard).

Matt who has gotten really tired of administration

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Posted by Erik Justen at 03/01/2001 1:16 PM EST


Engineer on team #677, A few screws loose, from Columbus School for Girls and The Ohio State University/Norhtrop Grumman/AEP.


In Reply to: Re: i disagree....try this...
Posted by Matt Leese on 02/24/2001 10:36 PM EST:



We've more or less had similar experiences. But... we have ideas in the works to change this. Everyone one that we've had show up to more than one meeting has been hooked. So... we're taking a road trip to the Great Lakes regional this year, and bringing an assistant dean or two (as with RIT, engineering is it's own college. the dean is way too busy - and leaving the school- to bring, so we hooked the outreach dean and maybe the academic dean). hopefully once they see what goes on, how much we (college students) learn, and the recruitment opportunities, they'll bite. It's just hard to get them to go.

Another approach we've recently tried is to go cross college. The college of arts and sciences has an industrial design department (not sure if other schools have this or not - we're insanely large - I think you can major in underwater basketweaving.) They had Dean Kamen come to talk about his wheelchair to them and our ASME chapter, but he also ended up recruiting for DEKA and talking about FIRST, too. It really excited them, and long story short, I ended up having lunch with their dean and a few of the department chairs. They didn't help out this year, as they wanted to sit back and observe this first year. But... they were able to find someone to help us work on our animation - grad students work great for this sort of thing, as long as their advisor buys in. The ind. design folks were interested in the project to use a possible capstone project. (as the dean put it, our former robots "looked like they could use our help&quot. that would make life fairly interesting - let the engineering side worry about the functionality, and the ind. design guys worry about looks, sponsor logos, tshirts, buttons, banners, etc. possibilities are endless.....It would certainly be a good business model to show how things work in industry

Just my thoughts,
Erik

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Posted by Mita at 02/24/2001 6:36 PM EST


Other on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central.


In Reply to: Re: for those of you who dont know..
Posted by Chris Hardman on 02/24/2001 12:00 AM EST:



Guess what Chris....
I'm an alumnus of Chief Delphi, and I'm attending Cornerstone University right now. Maybe we can work together on forming a team here in Grand Rapids since our colleges are not very far apart =). Just thought it would be interesting....

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Posted by Chris Hardman at 02/24/2001 11:04 PM EST


Student on team #111, WILDSTANG, from Rolling Meadows and Wheeling High schools and motorola.


In Reply to: Re: for those of you who dont know..
Posted by Mita on 02/24/2001 6:36 PM EST:



: Guess what Chris....
: I'm an alumnus of Chief Delphi, and I'm attending Cornerstone University right now. Maybe we can work together on forming a team here in Grand Rapids since our colleges are not very far apart =). Just thought it would be interesting....

Awesome!!! members from 47 and 111 teaming up? how much better could it get?

chris

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Posted by Mita at 02/26/2001 10:51 PM EST


Other on team #47, alumnus of Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School.


In Reply to: Re: for those of you who dont know..
Posted by Chris Hardman on 02/24/2001 11:04 PM EST:



: Awesome!!! members from 47 and 111 teaming up? how much better could it get?

: chris

I think it would be awesome too...maybe I'll see you at the Western Michigan Invitational, IF I go (since it's just 8 min from my college). I don't have my car w/ me here, so I don't know how to get there. But I'll see if I can find a ride

mita

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Posted by Mark Pierce at 03/05/2001 12:51 PM EST


Other on team #288, RoboDAWGS, from Grandville High School and X-Rite, Delphi, and others.


In Reply to: hmm...
Posted by Mita on 02/26/2001 10:51 PM EST:



For those college students in the Grand Rapids Area. I'm sure that one of the four GR Teams or the many new ones next year would appreciate your expertise. We've gone from one in 99 to two in 2000 to four in 2001... catch the progression?

Stop by and talk with any of us this weekend. The best contact on teams starting up in the area is the SME. Or contact me and I'll get you in touch with someone.