--- title: "#IRL: Rahil Mehta, FIRST Alum & Tesla Sr. Firmware Engineer" description: Rahil Mehta, FIRST Alum and Tesla Engineer - getting a competitive robotics program into every high school in Nevada as part of its efforts to build a sustainable workforce pipeline. image: https://community.firstinspires.org/hubfs/telsa-community-header.jpg --- Tesla’s Rahil Mehta, a *FIRST* alum and mentor, works with students on *FIRST* Robotics Competition Team 668 in San Jose, California. "I’ve always been a car person, but what also attracted me to Tesla was that the culture was very similar to being on a *FIRST *Robotics Competition team, which is what inspired me to become an engineer.You really don’t have unlimited resources, and you have to be careful about how you use the resources you have and plan for that. All the engineers that work here are super passionate about the work. There are long nights, but everyone is working toward a goal, and everyone wants to get it done at a high level. We get a lot of really good, talented employees through the *FIRST* program. I organized an information session recently at Tesla HQ to encourage employees to get involved in *FIRST* and invited three teams to be a part of, including the one I mentor. A few days later, a hiring manager who attended the event to learn about *FIRST *came up to me. He said we just interviewed an intern candidate who is involved in the program, and he was by far the best candidate they had ever interviewed. Part of that was the *FIRST* experience and the huge amount of technical skills they picked up through *FIRST*.” – Rahil Mehta, *FIRST *Alum & Tesla Sr. Firmware Engineer Read about [how Tesla is investing in getting a competitive robotics program into every high school in Nevada](https://www.firstinspires.org/stories/tesla-invests-in-first-support-workforce-development-future-engineers) as part of its efforts to build a sustainable workforce pipeline. ## #IRL ("In Real Life") "In Real Life" is a digital campaign showcasing parallels between the skills, experiences, and values of *FIRST* youth and working professionals. ** [Alumni](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/alumni) #### Share it: [** ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://community.firstinspires.org/irl-rahil-mehta-first-alum-tesla-sr.-firmware-engineer) [** ](https://twitter.com/share?url=https://community.firstinspires.org/irl-rahil-mehta-first-alum-tesla-sr.-firmware-engineer) [** ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://community.firstinspires.org/irl-rahil-mehta-first-alum-tesla-sr.-firmware-engineer) ![Default Author Image](https://community.firstinspires.org/hubfs/Community%20Blog%20v2/images/FIRST-author-icon.svg) Author [FIRST Staff](https://community.firstinspires.org/author/first) These blog posts have been contributed by members of *FIRST* staff. *FIRST* is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization headquartered in Manchester, N.H. ### Related Posts ** [Alumni](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/alumni) Tesla invests in FIRST to support workforce development and future engineers January 16, 2020 ** [Alumni](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/alumni) FIRST Alumni Spotlight: Peyton Fitzgerald January 29, 2020 ** [Alumni](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/alumni), [Championship](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/championship), [Volunteers](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/volunteers) FIRST Volunteers: Meet Jon Kentfield October 9, 2019 ![](https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1200203950045814&ev=PageView&noscript=1) ![](https://ct.pinterest.com/v3/?tid=2615041699514&noscript=1) ![](https://ct.pinterest.com/v3/?tid=2615041699514&event=PageVisit&noscript=1)