Dr. Lee is an employee at Caster Concepts and Conceptual Innovations who organizes and coordinates the intern program every year. He notes that it’s rare to find individuals with a high level of persistence and determination at a younger age, which acts as a filtering mechanism for selecting those motivated enough to stick with demanding work, even without all the technical skills initially. Attracting talent to work in a rural area is difficult, as many people prefer larger cities or tech hubs. He was introduced to FIRST Robotics (FRC) through a showcase event, which sparked his interest in how teams operated and led him to want to be part of one.
In the beginning, Dr. Lee struggled with hiring engineers, most of whom left the company after a few years. This frustration led him to involve students in FIRST Robotics. Through his work with students, he realized that persistence mattered more than raw technical skill. While the students weren’t experts at first, their determination to work through challenges made them successful. This led him to develop an internship program to teach students in the off-season, allowing them to build skills before the next competition.
Hunter, the first intern, had little software experience, but his persistence helped him succeed through hands-on learning. The program grew over time, starting with one intern and eventually reaching ten. The growing resources, including a larger facility, helped accommodate the increasing number of interns.
The internships focused on FRC-compatible projects, helping students gain valuable skills in CAD, programming, and more, which they applied to the competition robot. He also noticed a strong overlap between FIRST Robotics skills and industry requirements, showing that persistence and skills learned through FRC could be applied in real-world jobs.
Dr. Lee views the internship program as a way to build a database of talented, persistent students for future job opportunities. While the program grew organically, he emphasizes that fostering a strong team culture and teaching persistence is rare and valuable.