FSAE Parents

[d.madnick]

Hello,

Our team would like to start some kind of parents association to help out with certain things during the year. It would possibly include fund raising, planning trips, and having guest speakers.

I'm curious to know if other teams have something like this or what you think about this idea.

The team will still handle just about everything, but its always good to have the support of our parents.

[d.madnick]

Hello,

Our team would like to start some kind of parents association to help out with certain things during the year. It would possibly include fund raising, planning trips, and having guest speakers.

I'm curious to know if other teams have something like this or what you think about this idea.

The team will still handle just about everything, but its always good to have the support of our parents.

[Maverik]

You'll be better engineers/managers if you're parents support you from their place at home and let you struggle all on your own

[Mike Macie]

Our team was talking about doing something similar. Instead of parents, it would be an alumni association. I would suggest going this route since most fsae alumni still like to keep in touch.

[drywater]

our team doesnt have a parent association , but most of the times we get sponsor contacts from them only, because here in india nothing takes place without contacts
moreovere we are in constant touch with the alumni since they share valuable information with us. They(alumni) are working in big industries,we get to know new things about manufacturing and processes like bleeding etc.


ankit dhingra
www.defianzracing.in (http://www.defianzracing.in)
delhi college of engineeirng

[exFSAE]

Didn't have a parents assoc or anything.. but there were some gf's and parents that would come down to the shop or to comp and help with getting food ready and all. That was a big help.

An alumni assoc would be good, particularly for knowledge retention and advice.

[Chris Lane]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Maverik:
You'll be better engineers/managers if you're parents support you from their place at home and let you struggle all on your own </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Totally agree. I would be nowhere right now if I didn't throw myself in the deep end to begin with.

My vote is for self-sufficiency

[flavorPacket]

parents should provide food.
alumni should provide advice (and maybe $$)

you should do everything else.

[JamesWolak]

I just need someone to tell my parents that all FSAE students barely sleep and that i am not on drugs.

[A Richards]

Hahahah. I dont think that I got any sleep at all last year and everyone thought that i was on drugs. My parents think that im an absolute dick for doing FSAE. After three years of me been involved in SAE from first year bitch to team leader my parents have never seen any of the cars that ive been involved in, they wouldn't even know what colour they are. You dont need your parents hanging around for support, grow up! Like Chris said you need step out of your comfort zone and harden up.

[Anvit Garg]

Join the Army, we need more meat for the grinder.

[exFSAE]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by A Richards:
Hahahah. I dont think that I got any sleep at all last year and everyone thought that i was on drugs. My parents think that im an absolute dick for doing FSAE. After three years of me been involved in SAE from first year bitch to team leader my parents have never seen any of the cars that ive been involved in, they wouldn't even know what colour they are. You dont need your parents hanging around for support, grow up! Like Chris said you need step out of your comfort zone and harden up. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

"Harden the f*** up". Ronnie Johns?

I definitely agree though. Trip planning and organization should be done by the team. Alumni and family support is good though, particularly financially! If your program has been around for a while, you've got alumni, and they've got money and experience.

My parents were cool at least. When they'd visit I'd show them the car and my dad thought the machine and welding shops were cool. The phone calls got a little repetitive though...

"So, whats new?"
"Nothin. In the shop. Buildin a racecar"
"But you spend all your time on that!"
"Nah, I get out to the bars sometimes"

Interviews as well..

"You spend how many hours on the FSAE car? With class though that adds up to almost a full week of hours"
"I don't sleep much"

Or having "surprise" phone interviews at 9am, after having spent 6pm-8am and multiple energy drinks on end-of-semester reports. I must have sounded like a crackhead for that conversation. Wonder if that's why I didn't get the job...

Getting back on topic, if you can do a year as a FSAE project manager / captain, doing design and fabrication and planning and management and the outrageous hours, you can pretty much do anything IMO.

And in all honesty, in 07 (my final year) the 50-70 hour weeks, week after week, and all the work and all that didn't really piss me pff or wear me down all that much. Other than one incident where I literally couldn't stand anymore and took a nap in the machine shop office sprawled out on some chairs.. but the point is the work was fun.

It's the people that get to ya.. most of em were great and hard workers and fun to be around. But some of em...

[Superfast Matt McCoy]

We had parents that helped a lot, with money, use of their trailer and tow vehicle, driving around Detroit looking for exhaust parts. They would sometimes show up with food about that time we all realized we hadn't eaten in two days.

It's not that their support allowed us to slack off, but that it allowed us to accomplish more. we didn't do less, we did the same. We just got more done and became a better team. Jumping into the deep end is great, but with the support of family members you can jump into the deeper end.

[A Richards]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by exFSAE:
"Harden the f*** up". Ronnie Johns?
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Affirmative, lol.

Not saying that there is anything wrong with accepting help, you would be a fool not to. You just can't rely on/expect it.

I was building an intake mould at one in the morning after been in the workshop for probably 12 hours and managed to put my finger under the press break in the guillotine. The 20 hours that I spent in hospital was a probably the longest rest from SAE I had over the last 5months of the project. Arhhh the good times.

[Chris Lane]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by A Richards:
Hahahah. I dont think that I got any sleep at all last year and everyone thought that i was on drugs. My parents think that im an absolute dick for doing FSAE. After three years of me been involved in SAE from first year bitch to team leader my parents have never seen any of the cars that ive been involved in, they wouldn't even know what colour they are. You dont need your parents hanging around for support, grow up! Like Chris said you need step out of your comfort zone and harden up. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wow dude that's harsh! I HAVE to send my folks pics every now and then because 1. They want to know I'm still alive, and 2. They want to see what their boy had a hand in making. Hell, half my extended family is coming to the comp in December!

[Lexusteck]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Superfast Matt McCoy:
We had parents that helped a lot, with money, use of their trailer and tow vehicle, driving around Detroit looking for exhaust parts. They would sometimes show up with food about that time we all realized we hadn't eaten in two days.


Thanks for the comment Matt. Some of the parents actually have some quality input and motor homes are nice ( and expensive), Kansas has done quite well with the local Alums, parents and racers lending advise and support. Obviously the car has to be designed, machined, built, and driven by the students but sometimes us old farts have seen things that students havent and can suggest a rethink. You guys all do a great job of engineering just to get to a competition and interested parents like to see their kids succeed

It's not that their support allowed us to slack off, but that it allowed us to accomplish more. we didn't do less, we did the same. We just got more done and became a better team. Jumping into the deep end is great, but with the support of family members you can jump into the deeper end. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>