FRC Blogged - Want to work in FRC?

FIRST General Forum
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Posted in the FRC Blog, 7/2/13: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/blog-want-to-work-in-frc

Want to work in FRC?

**Blog Date: **Tuesday, July 2, 2013 - 12:47
We’ve got two exciting full time job openings in FRC that were recently posted, one for a Mechanical Engineer and one for a Software Engineer. You can find the details here:
http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/employment. You don’t need to enter any search terms on the web page, just click the ‘Search’ button at the bottom of the ‘Job Listings’ section and you will be able to find them quickly in the list.

Here’s the overview of the Mechanical Engineer position:

“As a member of the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) engineering team this individual will work collaboratively with the Game Design Committee to help develop and prototype the FRC field and game components used at FRC events. Incumbent will be involved with the final design and documentation of all mechanical aspects of the FRC Field.”

And the overview of the Software Engineer position:

“As a member of the Engineering team, this individual is involved with the design and development of electrical and software engineering aspects of the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). Work in conjunction with the FRC Engineering team, Game Design Committee (GDC), and external developers to create prototype field and game components and robot systems for use in FIRST events.”

Sounds pretty sweet, right? All this, and you get to live in the beautiful state of New Hampshire, with one of the lowest tax burdens in the nation.

These two positions will have a direct impact on the ongoing success of FRC, and we’re hoping to see some very enthusiastic and qualified candidates. See the website for all the details and how to apply.

While the Mechanical Engineer is an addition to our team, unfortunately, the Software Engineer is a replacement for Ryan Foley, who is leaving our engineering staff after nearly 3 years of hard work. Among other things, Ryan was principal programmer for the touchscreen interfaces used on the field the last three years, designed and programmed the radio Kiosk software, and was a co-author of the 2012 Einstein report, as well as being one of the engineers sitting in our ‘Mission Control’ every weekend official FRC events were taking place to keep everyone on track. Ryan is leaving FRC to pursue a new career opportunity in Maine, and so he can work more closely with the growing robotics community up there. As FRC staff members, while we get to see the big-picture impact of our work, which is very satisfying, we often miss out on the more local team-level work, which comes with its own set of rewards. We thank Ryan for all his hard work and wish him the best of luck!

I’ll blog again soon. Note: There will be no Frank Answers Friday this week. We’ll pick it up again next week.]

Frank

[Sidebar: New Hampshire State Legislators get paid $100 per year, and haven’t had a pay raise since 1889.]

Man, I wish I was a little older!

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Maybe the ME they hire can make the field drawings less horrible.

One can dream right?

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That’s funny.

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…and had a BSME degree. Eh?

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I wish I was a little younger!

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This.

On the other hand, they have provided a set of drawings I can use when teaching CAD as examples of what not to do.

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That and provide easily available .step versions of the field elements and game pieces.

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And while the new ME is at it, he can provide some better team versions of the field elements coughbridgescough.

I think we might actually be scaring people away from taking the job. :rolleyes:

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I will say, FIRST has recognized that this is a needed position, and I’m glad there will be someone who can work to work on all those areas we’re complaining about. I had been hopeful that the last few years of feedback comments weren’t going into a black hole, and it looks like FIRST is working to enhance the “customer experience”

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I agree. I am very satisfied with FIRST’s recent actions as of late to address and improve upon problem areas and topics in need of attention. Gettin’ the job done.
Now if only they’d reduce the seasonal price tag a smidge, FIRST would be golden.

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They reduced the rookie price tag a bit…that’s a start. And Districts do/will bring more bang for the same buck. Works for me.

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I had the honor to intern at FIRST last summer (before the 2013 game) and these people are awesome! I’m totally jealous of the two lucky people who get these jobs

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Why restrict to just people with a BSME/BSMET?

Don’t they realize engineers with other degrees (cough BSAAE) would be more than qualified to do a measly ME’s job? :yikes:

Let’s be clear, an AAE is just a glorified ME.

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They likely aren’t restricting to only those degrees.

Often companies will describe the role they want filled, and if a candidate has appropriate enough credentials and convince the company that the are capable of the job then they are hired.

Very common to see other degrees working as MEs.