at a science or technology center; or through another educational program. Determining the organization you will work with needs to be among the first decisions you make. V. Mentors Contacting Mentors One of the first things that you do when you sign up for the Real World Design Challenge is finding a mentor. Please be courteous to mentors and respect their time. There is a list of mentors available on the Getting Started Page (http://realworlddesignchallenge.org/2015-2016_RWDC_US_Getting_Started_Page.php#) under the link Find a Mentor to Help Your Team. Look through the list and find an initial mentor. As you progress through the Challenge, you can add up to three additional mentors, but start with one. You may reach out to several mentors to find one, but once you choose one, contact the other mentors that you are not using. Let them know that you will not need their assistance. Once you have found your first mentor, please set up a call with that person to get to know him or her and to discuss the project. Mentor’s Roles Mentors are professional scientists and engineers who will help you with the Challenge. Each team may recruit a maximum of five mentors with expertise in science, mathematics, engineering, aviation design and business. Mentors may limit the number of teams they choose to assist and the amount of time they will devote to the mentorship process. Accordingly, mentors will be available on a first come/first served basis. Mentors will present STEM concepts to your team in a fun and exciting way and give you a chance to interact with real world engineers and scientists. They will help to stimulate creative thinking through assisting your team with the hands-on design of your project. Mentors will provide advice to your team during the State Challenge, which will run from September through January. If the Mentor’s team is the State Winner, then mentors will provide advice for the winning team’s National Challenge efforts through the end of the National Competition. The Mentor is your subject matter expert. Mentors will provide advice to you on science, math, and engineering principles and be a content resource for your team. The Mentor is also the Teacher/Coach's advisor, assisting with knowledge of core principles processes, and knowledge of science, math, and engineering. The Mentor should NOT solve the problem of the Challenge for the team.
and development to best support their proposed business case. To support the inquiry based learning approach, you will be provided with a basic framework associated with the following focus areas: Task Analysis - analyze the mission/task to be performed Strategy and Design - determine engineering design process, roles, theory of operation, design requirements, system design, crew resources, integration testing, and design updates Costs - calculate costs and anticipated capabilities associated with design and operation, including modification of the design to further support a competitive business case Alternative Uses - identify alternative uses of system to improve marketability and use cases As your team progresses through the challenge you will incrementally be presented with background relating to the composition and operation of UAS designs, basic aeronautical and engineering design principles, UAS application to precision agriculture, and business management and development tools. You will work together as a team with fellow students, coaches, and mentors to identify what you need to learn as you move towards the completion of this challenge. By connecting your own experience and interest you will have an opportunity to gain further insight into the application of design concepts, better understand application of UAS technology, and build those priceless experiences that will guide you on your own path to success. Examine the Challenge and identify what needs to be done: Now that the State Challenge is issued, determine what the goals are and what you will need to do to win. Tip: Look at the RWDC Scoring Rubric and see what the judges will be looking for and design your solution so that they conform to the RWDC Scoring Rubric in the order that they are provided. This helps make sure the judges will see all of your work and will not miss anything. Determine what resources are needed to solve the problem: You will need to figure out what resources you will need to solve the problem. These will include: (a) human resources (team members with expertise needed to do the task you identified); (b) research on what has been done to address the problem by others; and (c) tools needed to do the job. Gather Your Resources Each team’s goal is to create the best solution to the Challenge. This will require students to develop a strategy that addresses the following topics: team expertise, mentor expertise and support, differentiated roles, collaboration, capacity, and approach. Educational materials will be available to support the development of student team strategies, melding the professional practice of product design with the entertainment value of role-playing games. Researching What Has Been Done and Gathering Information