[wireties]

I'm an EE with vertical expertise in distributed control systems. Almost all my technical expertise applied directly to FIRST including...

C++ and embedded software techniques
VxWorks, Linux and embedded operating systems in general
Electrical design
Systems design

I know some teams struggle with software and/or electronics but our team was different. We struggled early on with mechanical design. Nowadays we have several talented MEs so I can stay in my wheelhouse! I notice that direct FIRST experience seems more helpful to MEs than to EEs and CS types. We build robots with weight limits and for limited use - it is different than most of industry. Materials and construction techniques specific to FIRST robots are evolving, becoming more and more specialized.