Chris Fultz

From FIRSTwiki

In the words of Chris Fultz, from cyberblue234.com:

I work for Rolls-Royce Corporation in Indianapolis. I am Program Director for the RR300 engine, a small helicopter engine. My job is to lead the team that is developing and certifying the engine, and getting ready to begin regular production. I work with customers and internal departments to help make the program happen. I am also part of our Engineering Education Council, a group that oversees the support of college co-ops, high school interns, university programs, Project Lead the Way and FIRST Robotics team support. I got involved with Cyber Blue when my oldest son, Collin, was a sophomore and on the team. I enjoy working with the students, hearing their ideas and ways to build the robot and play the game. I am continually impressed with the quality of students that are on this team and know they will do great things. I like to share some of my experience with them to help them learn new ways of thinking and approaching problems. I also like that I can help encourage some students to careers in engineering and technology fields, and help some of them obtain high school internships and college co-op positions at Rolls-Royce. I think FIRST is an excellent program and gives students a chance to work under real life scenarios - there is never enough time or money to complete engineering programs, weight and capabilities are always a challenge, and you never know what the competition will do. It is also real in that for many high tech companies, like Rolls-Royce, we are both partners and competitors with many companies. I also really like that FIRST focuses on other areas of the program beyond the robot build and competition. The awards and recognition in these areas allow many students to actively participate on a team and have a great way to contribute. FIRST provides a great value to high school students. They learn to express their ideas, think creatively, work as a team, and solve a very complex problem. The students get to work right beside adult mentors who are willing to share their know edge and experience. They get to develop their speaking skills and have an opportunity for college scholarships. Their involvement with a FIRST team can open many doors for them, regardless of their career choice.