Jessica MacNeil

FIRST program pays career dividends

Eli Seidner's career in engineering started by building a robot for a FIRST competition.

As a junior at the Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Seidner was a member of team 710, known as PAW, an acronym representing the two schools involved, Pine Crest and Westminster Academy, and the team's sponsor Apex. 

His experience with the FIRST Robotics Competition introduced him to the field of engineering, which led him to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and eventually to his current position at National Instruments (NI).

"I was always interested in math and science, but when I joined I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, so it helped me pick engineering as something to pursue," said Seidner. "I studied engineering at RPI, with a double major of mechanical engineering and economics, and seven months ago started working at NI."

In his time at NI, Seidner has worked in development programs which allow entry-level employees to work in different departments, such as sales, marketing, and research and development, to get an idea of what positions that would like to pursue.

"I work with an engineering leadership program," said Seidner. "It’s an entry-level development program training in leadership development. Tech support is the main responsibility, so we help customers with problems and troubleshooting. We work on projects we’re interested in to get involved with different departments to go out and have a more permanent department."

More specifically, his experience designing and building robots for the FIRST competitions has helped him, because it's more relevant to his work as an Applications Engineer at NI than his experience at RPI.

"FIRST has helped me with my work here because I studied mechanical engineering, but this is more electrical."

One such project is the inverted pendulum, a device that is held from the bottom, as opposed to a clock pendulum that is held from the top. It needs a motor to hold it and computer program to control the motor, and Seidner has worked on writing that computer software.

FIRST has played an integral role in Seidner's education and career because of the hands-on experience it provided.

"FIRST was really helpful because even when you study engineering in college it’s very theoretical," said Seidner. "You learn the math and theory, but FIRST was a hands-on situation where you can implement what you’ve learned."

Seidner sees the FIRST program as especially useful to younger students as it can help provide a direction for their studies and career goals.

"Overall I think FIRST is a good program, especially if you do it in high school," said Seidner. "I see it as motivation to pursue something. People who are interested in science and technology are motivated to see what you can do with it. It’s a huge learning opportunity."

Like any work experience, a beneficial part of the FIRST program is getting involved in the industry.

"Another really important thing is that you develop industry contacts," said Seidner. "I was able to do internships with the company that sponsored my team (Apex)."

Seidner's experience with FIRST has now come full-circle as NI has become a sponsor and supporter of the FIRST program. He recently worked on NI's demo robot for the program, which allowed him to give back to the program that inspired him to be an engineer.

"It’s cool to be staying involved, contributing and giving back," said Seidner.

Posted by Jessica MacNeil on May 29, 2008 | Comments (0)