This page contains instructions and tips about restarting UWARG in case the team collapses in the future.
Introduction
In the Fall of 2019, UWARG collapsed for the first time since its inception in 1998. I was a new member on the team when this happened, and was heartbroken when I heard the news. A term later, the covid pandemic caused me to lose my coop and I took it upon myself to take that term to restart the team, and shape it into what I would have wanted it to be. Right now the team is prospering, the future is bright, and we’re accomplishing feats I only dreamed of at this start of all this. I leave this document behind in the hopes that no one will ever need to read it, but if the team collapses again in the distant future, and someone interested in resurrecting WARG comes along, it will give you some idea of where to start and what things to look out for in your journey.
Be Aware of the commitment
It turns out restarting a design team is incredibly taxing. You're going to have to commit a lot of your time and make it a priority, at least until some momentum is built. But more importantly, it’s a massive emotional investment as well. If you care enough about the team to want to do this, it becomes inevidable that you’l be tied to it emotionally. When things are going good, you’ll feel incredibly proud and when things feel like they’re falling apart, well, you’ll feel like you’re falling apart. Be aware of these things, and be prepared to deal with them.
Create a founding team
Unless your’e a very specific type of person (you're not). You can’t do this alone. You just can’t. You need someone to bounce ideas off of, to share the workload, and to talk to when things feel like they’re going awfully. You’ll drive yourself insane otherwise, and more to the point, yo won’t produce much of value as your decisions will be made completely unchecked. The optimal number for a founding team is 3. You’l want these people are all as dedicated as you are. 3 is great because disagreements can be settled, everyone feels very accountable, and meetings don’t have to be canceled every time 1 person can’t attend. Note here that your’e bound to be a bit disapointed with potential members. In my time restarting, quite a few friends and acquaintances who heard what I was doing reached out and were interested in helping but ended up deciding to to commit to it. It’s normal, it happens a lot with design teams, just don’t expect everyone who comes knocking to be as committed as you are.
Stand on the shoulders of giants.
Your first order of business should be to contact past team members and gather as much of what they say as possible. You’ll want to understand exactly why the team collapsed, where the team was in terms of technology when it collapsed, what the team’s goals where, what the architectures of the technologies was etc. Seriously, this is your best resource, do not underestimate it. The team has a really rich history, and at the time of writing, we’ve got 20+ years of knowledge stocked up.
Salvage what you can
WARG has piles and piles of source code, mechanical models, documentation, hardware, aircraft, telemetry equipment and so on and so on. You’ll want to track it all down. Talk to past members and the department to figure out where things are and what things you can still have. The team also has money and sponsors. If your’e lucky, those bank accounts still exist. Talk to the department about what you can have.
Talk to WARG’s previous advisor
You’l want some sort of department connection. Ideally, someone who is willing to fight for you in the administrative stuff that’s way over your head. For us, that’s prof David Wang. Reach out to him, talk to him about your plans and ask for advice.
Build the team in your image
Some advice that’s a bit more fun now. Yes you're restarting a team that’s been around for a long time, that doesn't mean you have to keep going the way we were going. Learn from the past, but use it to build your dreams. This is your best opportunity for transforming WARG into what you want it to be. THink really, really big. And remember to ask for advice along the way. Old members will be helpful and your co-resurrectionists will keep you in check.
Make solid plans
You can’t be wishy washy. You need to take your dreams and actually turn them into architectures, goals, and plans. Hammer this stuff out as best you can, both with your founding team and with old members of WARG.
Recruit
Odds are that this is why the team died. Members are the heart and sole of a design team. Once your’e ready, put in all the effort you can into getting new members to join. Shouldn’t be so hard since you’ve got an insanely exciting vision for the future, right ? Recruit anyone who’s interested, of course, but don’t underestimate first years. In my time, firs years made up the majority of the team and it was their work that helped to accomplish my dreams. Seriously, recruit all the first years you can. The caveat is that there is a right time to begin your recruiting efforts. Do it too early and you’ll find yourself with tons of labor that you can’t assign work to because you don’t have goals hammered out yourself. My advice is to work with your founding team to hammer out your vision and to make tangible, clear architectures and plans. Only when that’s ready should you open your doors to recruiting.
Explain
As soon as you have man power, use it. Take all the time that’s needed to explain tasks, designs, visions, and anything that anyone asks about. Do not take an “it’s faster to do this myself than to explain it” approach.
Don’t ever stop dreaming
Just don’t. Get out there, and put something really really great in the sky.