Engineering and You

[Clutch Dog]

we are steam barreling right now towards the end of my contract. ( about 15 months out) and I am wrapping up some navy lead certifications ( basic stuff like computer operators courses and whatnot)

So it becomes game time. I am understsanding it is almost useless to create a plan, as life tends to do what it wants and opportunities arise or get taken away out of my control.

I feel like I want to get my hands into something along the same principles that i was trained in.

Operation, execution, trouble shooting and repair of both the software and hardware side of the machinery.

Ideally id like to work with medical based robotics. I find that world particularly fasinating.


The next sort of question to be pinging on. As a single sailor with no family or ties (no girlfriend either. or boyfriend)

Should I limit myself to the schooling in the general area I want to move, or should I chance going to school at something with perhaps a better program but out of the region i want to work in?

does anyone have advice on that?

Id like to move to Georgia. I have my heart set on it for the last year. Its not just the area ( which rocks) or the vicinity of race tracks (which rocks) but I have family and a whole bunch of good friends down there.

The carolina's are also on the potential list.

So what schools would be worth looking at down there?

Should I shoot for a Mechatronics degree or something like computer science or robotic sciences


A friend who is well established right now in the medical manufactering and chemstry realm said a smart plan should be getting a technician sort of job to get the feet wet, rent out while working and after about 6 months or so of stability with that job and getting into the 'groove' dive into schooling hard core and joining a few clubs to test interests in different subjects..



who knows maybe ill be a maintenance supervisor of a cork board company. Or doing inspections on airframes of Airbus..


Thoughts?

[Tomm]

Originally Posted by Clutch Dog

we are steam barreling right now towards the end of my contract. ( about 15 months out) and I am wrapping up some navy lead certifications ( basic stuff like computer operators courses and whatnot)

So it becomes game time. I am understsanding it is almost useless to create a plan, as life tends to do what it wants and opportunities arise or get taken away out of my control.

I feel like I want to get my hands into something along the same principles that i was trained in.

Operation, execution, trouble shooting and repair of both the software and hardware side of the machinery.

Ideally id like to work with medical based robotics. I find that world particularly fasinating.


The next sort of question to be pinging on. As a single sailor with no family or ties (no girlfriend either. or boyfriend)

Should I limit myself to the schooling in the general area I want to move, or should I chance going to school at something with perhaps a better program but out of the region i want to work in?

does anyone have advice on that?

Id like to move to Georgia. I have my heart set on it for the last year. Its not just the area ( which rocks) or the vicinity of race tracks (which rocks) but I have family and a whole bunch of good friends down there.

The carolina's are also on the potential list.

So what schools would be worth looking at down there?

Should I shoot for a Mechatronics degree or something like computer science or robotic sciences


A friend who is well established right now in the medical manufactering and chemstry realm said a smart plan should be getting a technician sort of job to get the feet wet, rent out while working and after about 6 months or so of stability with that job and getting into the 'groove' dive into schooling hard core and joining a few clubs to test interests in different subjects..



who knows maybe ill be a maintenance supervisor of a cork board company. Or doing inspections on airframes of Airbus..


Thoughts?

This is one of those times where google, indeed, linkedin, usajobs, etc are your friend. You seem like you know where you want to take your life. Find the job there (indeed/google). See what the job listing requires (certs/quals/etc). Get said certs, degree, quals, etc. Get the job.

If it was me and knew what I wanted to do in college, I would have honed in on my specific career a little more but because I didn't know I just went with whatever. But you do that same thing with school (as you did with the job), find the school with your particular career path/specialty, see their requirements and make it happen. A lot of employers are caring less where you went to school and are placing more emphasis on what you studied and how you contributed to the field (experience). Shop around for the school. If you look at schools in NC, you should check out NC State. They have a really strong engineering program with various concentrations.

Also try https://www.taonline.com/military-skills-translator/ - mine all sucked because I hated my mil job but I found a lot of 'one-offs' that I was interested in.

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by Clutch Dog

The next sort of question to be pinging on. As a single sailor with no family or ties (no girlfriend either. or boyfriend)

Should I limit myself to the schooling in the general area I want to move, or should I chance going to school at something with perhaps a better program but out of the region i want to work in?

does anyone have advice on that?

Regional is definitely a good idea for smaller schools. But if you go to a nationally recognized school that is usually even better. If you can swing both, that's the best for career outlook.

As far as whether some personal preference overrides some logic, that's something you will have to rationalize yourself. For example, I went to a small school because I liked the staff and culture, knowing it was going to be more difficult to get a job afterwards. It worked out alright for me.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Clutch Dog

Should I shoot for a Mechatronics degree or something like computer science or robotic sciences


a smart plan should be getting a technician sort of job to get the feet wet,

Thoughts?

I can't answer the rest of the questions but knowing who our company hires and what the demand in the automotive manufacturing sector is I can respond to these. This info applies to the USA and Canada


Technician jobs are common. They pay crap and you will rarely be doing the work you are hired to do. Trying to advance while working will be a rough go. Last resort out of desperation.


Computer Science market is flooded. We can get somebody here tomorrow to fill the position. Pay is better but job satisfaction could soon become an issue.


Robotic Sciences would mean moving to Asia for any development position. If in North America the jobs available are limited to say the least. In fact for most jobs here see Tech above.


Mechatronics degree. When can you start and where do you want to live? With the growth in areas such as autonomous driving tech and modern manufacturing equipment there is a huge demand for this level of engineer. I my company (well the company I work for) if you had a year of schooling and with your current experience you could get a Co Op position tomorrow. Pretty much certain that you would have a full time position immediately after you were done the schooling. Did a quick check on openings and there are about 20 jobs available within the field right this minute. There are another 30 or so that sort of overlap. The really cool ones are all near Detroit (it is automotive after all) but there are a few good ones in SC, TN or GA as well.


Now of course I can't speak to other industries but this has been the state of affairs in our company and automotive in general for some time now.

[Clutch Dog]

Originally Posted by Tomm

If you look at schools in NC, you should check out NC State. They have a really strong engineering program with various concentrations.

Also try https://www.taonline.com/military-skills-translator/ - mine all sucked because I hated my mil job but I found a lot of 'one-offs' that I was interested in.

Ill take a gander. I actually have 3 NEC's from being a prior supervisor nuke and then now Link tech and aegis operator... Which is also why "narrowing down" is really hard.

Originally Posted by Spuds

As far as whether some personal preference overrides some logic, that's something you will have to rationalize yourself. For example, I went to a small school because I liked the staff and culture, knowing it was going to be more difficult to get a job afterwards. It worked out alright for me.

If anything is is motivation that it doesnt matter what school per se. Thank you!

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Technician jobs are common. They pay crap and you will rarely be doing the work you are hired to do. Trying to advance while working will be a rough go. Last resort out of desperation.

Computer Science market is flooded. We can get somebody here tomorrow to fill the position. Pay is better but job satisfaction could soon become an issue.

Robotic Sciences would mean moving to Asia for any development position. If in North America the jobs available are limited to say the least. In fact for most jobs here see Tech above.

Mechatronics degree. When can you start and where do you want to live? With the growth in areas such as autonomous driving tech and modern manufacturing equipment there is a huge demand for this level of engineer. I my company (well the company I work for) if you had a year of schooling and with your current experience you could get a Co Op position tomorrow. Pretty much certain that you would have a full time position immediately after you were done the schooling. Did a quick check on openings and there are about 20 jobs available within the field right this minute. There are another 30 or so that sort of overlap. The really cool ones are all near Detroit (it is automotive after all) but there are a few good ones in SC, TN or GA as well.

Now of course I can't speak to other industries but this has been the state of affairs in our company and automotive in general for some time now.

The issue i have with the whole going to asia or even germany for some robotics is I want to support the US based economy with a job here. I got a feeling in my knee we'll bring manufacturing back to the States before long... its an ominous feeling though.


And thank you for your input there. I figure it would be something like that if i shot for that degree. Unfortunately Im not keen on Michigan purely based on location, not the state itself ( born and raised Wisconsin/Illinios, done with wet winters)

Its also funny how priorities and 'what matters" changes as i get older. My mentor got out of the service and got hired on at a job under 60k a year for living in Georgia, but within 3 years is making near 90k on the normal with over time here and there. and he said that you pick a job that pays a little more than you figure your spending, and then you can take the kid to school, and go camping with the family. and enjoy life for what it is.

I am tired of rotating shift work, but i know its easy to get into initially. and I might have to roll into something like that to get some sort of stable cash flow before i go full time.


Thank you all for your inputs!

I also kinda posted this here for other young men ( and women) On the forum to check out. Generally speaking if your like cars You like working with your hands and have good comprehension ( or at least WILL have it) And with how the economic shift in the Us going we are needing skilled workers who can figure out problems and apply real world fixes to them..

and as it was mentioned weeks ago you dont even have to do good at math (or english)

One benefit that I saw lurking in the off topic threads is the variety of job fields represented by the local posters. I parallelled this with Boy Scouts in that most the fathers there also where interested in sharing what they do for a living to the kids and expose them to opportunities maybe the younglings didnt know existed.

There's alotta good people here and its been represented well I feel

Thank you

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Model? I want the real thing. Must be operational within 3 weeks and you have a budget of $2,000.

GO

I know a guy that makes a cool quarter mil/yr doing just that. He knows exactly how much money his inventions save his employers. He's also an amazing chef.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

I know a guy that makes a cool quarter mil/yr doing just that. He knows exactly how much money his inventions save his employers. He's also an amazing chef.

Meh. Shim missed the deadline by months so the point is now moot.