Dear Mike,

Thank you for the reply. I was informed of the decision to close the adult

3D competition before going to the finals at Exeter. Having now been to the

finals I can fully appreciate your response. I am not changing my mind but

I can agree that the competition needs to be reviewed.

When we ran the regional competition at Bristol we had a small number of

entries, but each group were novices and thoroughly enjoyed the

competition.

I felt that there was an imbalance at the Exeter competition. There were

several novices, who I recognised from the regional competition, and there

were some experienced teams. It was disappointing to see one or two teams

take their mouse to the mat and not know which way round it was supposed to

run. This strongly suggests that they did not contribute as much to the

project as the teachers did.

At the same time, the 3D prizes seemed to go to the same people who win

them every year. They must have a house full of brass cheese by now.

I think the classes should be reorganised to encourage newcomers. (At least

one novice team left before the competition began on Saturday) Maybe start

with a NOVICE class for people who are there for the fist time; a STANDARD

class for the more experienced, who have never won a prize except at novice

level and a SPECIAL class for previous prize winners and the experts. This

formula make it possible for newcomers to win prizes on their first

attempt. They would only be novices for their first year. Prize winners at

standard class would be moved out to enable someone else to achieve

success. Those achieving expert class would only be in competition with

each other and not with newcomers.

I also think that schools should not be prevented from entering more than

one mouse, but perhaps with the proviso that they can only win one prize.

Cash prizes are very important to schools. It is often their only source of

funding to continue development. The school that I help would not have got

started had it not been for my employer, who sponsored them. Believe me,

school budgets are really tight and planned to the penny. There is very

little spare for extracurricular work.

The 3D maze could have two classes STANDARD and EXPERT, where standard is

open to anyone who has a 3D mouse but has never won a prize. The expert

class would be more of a demonstration match for the veterans, perhaps

winning a certificate only.

We are about to start plans for the next regional competition at Bristol.

Maybe some of my suggestions could be considered when the rules are

reviewed.

Best wishes

Gordon Watt

Senior Project Engineer

Security Systems Development Group

Post Office Consulting, Room FW01, Technology Centre, Wheatstone Road,

Dorcan, SWINDON. SN3 4RD.