Career Chat!

[Kiwi Shark]

Since Terra Incognita felt like asking more about my job in my welcome post I thought I'd invite everyone to talk a bit about what they do for a living. I'm certain there's a lot of engineers and some software devs in this crowd. Maybe some stuff completely different too! Or even if you're a student and want to mention what you're looking to do for a job later or an internship you had. Long-time pros or new grads, the more the merrier.

Whatever you've got, please share!

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As for myself I work as a project engineer (mostly mechanical, just the tiniest pinch of electrical) at a specialty hardware developer and manufacturer for industrial, power generation, and aviation applications. Even some aerospace in there from time to time. It's a cool job, I get to work on important stuff and some sizeable projects given the size of the company. I really get to dig into some exciting hands-on stuff and get involved with every bit of the process from initial customer inquiry to production release. The thing I may be proudest of is the internship program I run. Every summer I get a student sidekick to help take care of some extra engineering tasks around the facility. (I even let them get a forklift certification.) I never got that kind of opportunity as a student so I really like being able to give that to some lucky engineer-to-be and help set them up for success.

 

[TROPtastic]

A fellow mechanical engineer! Or at least, one who is working in the field I studied as a mech eng and worked in different roles (testing, design, research, project management), but I always seemed to have the bad luck of choosing companies that turned out to be somewhat unstable. Have gone from job to job, and am currently drifting through the wind while trying to upgrade my skills. Hopefully I can find that holy grail of "good management and coworkers, interesting work, and stable career".

(getting forklift certified would be great for the meme)

 

[Kiwi Shark]

A fellow mechanical engineer! Or at least, one who is working in the field I studied as a mech eng and worked in different roles (testing, design, research, project management), but I always seemed to have the bad luck of choosing companies that turned out to be somewhat unstable. Have gone from job to job, and am currently drifting through the wind while trying to upgrade my skills. Hopefully I can find that holy grail of "good management and coworkers, interesting work, and stable career".

(getting forklift certified would be great for the meme)

Yeah my degree is technically in aerospace but it’s a lot of the same. The testing and design stuff must’ve been at least sort of interesting even if the environment was shaky. Here’s hoping you find your golden goose!

 

[Halengar]

I use Forklift and forklift accessories! And for Kerbal colonies iv been learning 3d modeling on the side, iv been considering going to school for it.

 

[Kiwi Shark]

I use Forklift and forklift accessories! And for Kerbal colonies iv been learning 3d modeling on the side, iv been considering going to school for it.

Lots of applications for it, plenty people might not expect. Obviously games and such, but general 3D artistry gets used all over the place. I do 3D modeling almost every day but that’s the CAD mechanical style, not the Blendery mesh model style.

 

[Bruno]

I'm a Product Manager for a mobile carrier; was a developer in another life (but we called ourselves Programmers back then...).
In my free time learned CAD modelling, 3d printing an electronics to make my own KSP controller.

 

[moeggz]

Great idea for a thread! I shared some in my own introduction post but after enjoying a variety of jobs in entirely different fields I'm now at a small business doing mostly sales and general administration, tho I still do a decent share of the actual work at the shop which is upholstery. I don't have any degree in engineering, programming, or aerospace unless one counts HVAC as engineering lol. Goes to show KSA is for everyone!

I am however self training in programming and 3d modeling. I made a lot of custom macros through my different rolls, but recently with advancing AI I've started teaching myself C# and 3d modeling. For C#, I'm trying to use AI as a tutor with infinite patience to more teach me how C# works than just write the code. Mixed success there but with the help of basically every AI available (would use one, run into a roadblock, hop to a competitor and repeat) was able to make a simple data scrapper using Trello's API's that could convert job tickets we have in that scheduling program directly into estimates/invoices inside Quickbooks saving at least 1/3 of our paperwork workflow time. Also goes to a Google sheet for another way to view all the info in our upcoming projects. Still some small things I'm wanting to edit on it but I said the beta on it ended earlier this year lol.

3d modeling for me will have no impact on my work, its just for my own enjoyment now that I'm 3D printing. I made a custom (from the starting cube in Blender!) keychain and lanyard pin using flush words and logo converted to a svg that uses two fillament colors as handouts for a convention and that was really fun! And @Bruno you have inspired me for my next side project to also try and make a custom KSA controller. Might take me a while to get there from just a beveled rectangle with a hole in it but I've had fun so far!

Hopefully I can find that holy grail of "good management and coworkers, interesting work, and stable career".

(getting forklift certified would be great for the meme)

I was facing that same situation which was why I was so happy to find a small business that meets those for me. So much easier having 5 coworkers and no middle management. Tho admitedy at a small business you trade off some of the security/stability larger organizations can bring. Best wishes to you in your search.

And get forklift certified, its fun and you'll never know when you'll need it!

 

[Kiwi Shark]

I'm a Product Manager for a mobile carrier; was a developer in another life (but we called ourselves Programmers back then...).
In my free time learned CAD modelling, 3d printing an electronics to make my own KSP controller.

Oh man I’ve seen a lot of cool stuff about building KSP controller panels. I think a lot of the tech has come a long way since some of the early ones in 2012-2015. Maybe I should try working a concept for a new gen approach for KSA.

 

[Kiwi Shark]

Great idea for a thread!

Thanks!

Honestly the HVAC know-how probably makes you more valuable than half of the pencil pushers engineers out there. Try drafting without air conditioning, I don’t recommend it. Anyways props to the trades.

You definitely seem to have an engineering spirit though, with all that optimization. Cool stuff! I do a bit of macro writing at my job to have some QOL tools for our CAD software so I definitely get it.

We’ll have to trade tips on building control panels

 

[rafaelxdo]

So many people with jobs and careers, I'm just a uni student currently studying (if you can call it that) Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering.

 

[moeggz]

@rafaelxdo That sounds so interesting! I may have found my next research rabbit hole! Hopefully KSA’s water physics gives us an opportunity for interesting boats and submarines.

 

[rafaelxdo]

@moeggz Oh I'm glad you found it interesting!! When I usually tell people about this they're just "oh? boats? wow..." but they forget there are a lot of things that float. It truly is interesting, there's a lot of maths and fluid dynamics () and is quite an open field. In my uni, a lot of my classes are alongside Aerospace and Mechanical. TLDR: I love boats even the flying ones!!

 

[Kiwi Shark]

@rafaelxdo That is cool stuff! One of the other engineers at my job has a very similar degree. What’s best though is that you seem really into it and that makes a big difference.

Stay buoyant!

 

[TROPtastic]

TLDR: I love boats even the flying ones!!

Don't get me started on the US-2 ShinMaywa and its potential for Canadian production by De Havilland. Now that is the ultimate blend of my interests in naval and aerospace engineering

 

[rafaelxdo]

Don't get me started on the US-2 ShinMaywa and its potential for Canadian production by De Havilland.

Wait what?? De Havilland Canada might start making the US-2???

 

[DrVenkman]

Cool thread. My undergraduate degree is aerospace engineering. I went to work for Boeing right out of college (a few decades ago now!) as an ECLSS design engineer on the Space Station Freedom program in Huntsville, Alabama. Lots of responsibility at a young age and at a seminal time in the space station project. Hardware I designed and was responsible for is currently flying on-orbit in every US, European and Japanese module of the ISS still, these many years later.

After a few years in Rocket City, I shifted course radically and went back to school to get a JD, worked as a litigation attorney for many years before pivoting again into legal data review and analysis for what has grown into a global billion dollar business. Fortunately my particular position is a good combination of nerding out about technology of big data management and review, hands on legal analsysis, and managing teams of people. All told, it’s a lot less stressful than being a Real Lawyer(tm) , which leaves me ample time to explore my (too many) hobbies here in late middle-age.

 

[Bruno]

Great idea for a thread! I shared some in my own introduction post but after enjoying a variety of jobs in entirely different fields I'm now at a small business doing mostly sales and general administration, tho I still do a decent share of the actual work at the shop which is upholstery. I don't have any degree in engineering, programming, or aerospace unless one counts HVAC as engineering lol. Goes to show KSA is for everyone!

I am however self training in programming and 3d modeling. I made a lot of custom macros through my different rolls, but recently with advancing AI I've started teaching myself C# and 3d modeling. For C#, I'm trying to use AI as a tutor with infinite patience to more teach me how C# works than just write the code. Mixed success there but with the help of basically every AI available (would use one, run into a roadblock, hop to a competitor and repeat) was able to make a simple data scrapper using Trello's API's that could convert job tickets we have in that scheduling program directly into estimates/invoices inside Quickbooks saving at least 1/3 of our paperwork workflow time. Also goes to a Google sheet for another way to view all the info in our upcoming projects. Still some small things I'm wanting to edit on it but I said the beta on it ended earlier this year lol.

3d modeling for me will have no impact on my work, its just for my own enjoyment now that I'm 3D printing. I made a custom (from the starting cube in Blender!) keychain and lanyard pin using flush words and logo converted to a svg that uses two fillament colors as handouts for a convention and that was really fun! And @Bruno you have inspired me for my next side project to also try and make a custom KSA controller. Might take me a while to get there from just a beveled rectangle with a hole in it but I've had fun so far!

I was facing that same situation which was why I was so happy to find a small business that meets those for me. So much easier having 5 coworkers and no middle management. Tho admitedy at a small business you trade off some of the security/stability larger organizations can bring. Best wishes to you in your search.

And get forklift certified, its fun and you'll never know when you'll need it!

That's great mate! I'm definitely, 100% not finishing my KSP controller before I start working on the new version for KSA

 

[Bruno]

Oh man I’ve seen a lot of cool stuff about building KSP controller panels. I think a lot of the tech has come a long way since some of the early ones in 2012-2015. Maybe I should try working a concept for a new gen approach for KSA.

Defintely, I've just came across some newish esp32 little round screens that may have to order to add to the pile of components...

 

[Kiwi Shark]

Cool thread. My undergraduate degree is aerospace engineering. I went to work for Boeing right out of college (a few decades ago now!) as an ECLSS design engineer on the Space Station Freedom program in Huntsville, Alabama. Lots of responsibility at a young age and at a seminal time in the space station project. Hardware I designed and was responsible for is currently flying on-orbit in every US, European and Japanese module of the ISS still, these many years later.

Thanks for sharing! Flexing your ISS hardware legacy is awesome, that's exactly the kind of thing I love to see here. So far I don't know if anything I've worked on has gone past sub-orbital, but given the customers it might be possible.

which leaves me ample time to explore my (too many) hobbies here in late middle-age.

I'd say you've earned it!

 

[Kiwi Shark]

Defintely, I've just came across some newish esp32 little round screens that may have to order to add to the pile of components...

Adafruit/Digikey are going to make me customer of the month and my wallet is going to feel it.