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Ask HN: Has anyone gone from software to physical engineering?

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Re: Ask HN: Has anyone gone from software to physical engineering?

#61

Post by amohajerani »

idiotsecant wrote: post #28

Don't do it. There's a reason there's way more EE and ME trying to get into pure software than the other way around. Software jobs are generally better quality of life, (way) better pay, better work location and time flexibility, and way-way-way less cat herding, logistics, and interaction with less technical parts of the business. Engineers are frequently overworked, unappreciated, and desk-bound.

I second this. I did a few years of hardware/mechanical engineering work before switching to AI. I'd never go back to the prior jobs

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone gone from software to physical engineering?

#62

Post by toss1 »

Worked in software primarily for business knowledge management & workflow, built some of the earliest SASS platforms, but after I was done with one of the ventures, and tired of fighting the house of cards of squishy software underneath the whole thing, sought something new. I wound up starting a carbon fiber / composites design & fabrication ship. While not a degreed engineer, I do a lot of the same work and now often advise engineers on the issues. I'm generally OK with not having gotten a new degree in the field, as to some extent it would provide an easy 'out' in the hard times to bail to a regular job, and if I want to figure anything out, the information is readily available. As it is, although I keep track of software and AI developments, I'm consistently finding much more joy in this work than in software. I also find it good that at least a good portion of the work is standing and work with my hands, not just sitting in a chair.

In short, I'd highly recommend finding something that intrinsically interests you, whether materials or particular products, and finding a path to immerse yourself in it. No idea where you are, but ping me if you're interested.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone gone from software to physical engineering?

#63

Post by djmips »

I did, I went from video games to software + physical engineering of theme park rides but with the pandemic, back to video games... I'd recommend schooling but like anything, you can probably do a lot without the degree as long as Professional Engineers are around to sign off on things.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone gone from software to physical engineering?

#64

Post by ska »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #15
carabiner wrote: post #6

I was a mechanical engineer before this. Keep in mind that mech engineering that requires a 4-year degree is different from being on the fabrication side that does machining/building. The latter is the hands-on, blue collar work where you're on your feet all day. The engineering is a desk job 90% of the time. Sell your back vs. sell your brain.

Yep. Machining is fun, but it doesn’t pay.

Tool & die does ok still doesn't it?

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone gone from software to physical engineering?

#65

Post by boringg »

svnt wrote: post #42
boringg wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its a very big level of effort to get an engineering degree and pass your professional engineering exam. Assuming you are in North America its about a 4 year process. As such there are large opportunity costs and I don't know many engineering programs that are evenings and weekends though I am sure they exist...

Yeah but if they’re motivated by learning new things better to learn new things while staying highly profitable, else they’ll just burn out again in the new field. The problem is the job structure.

Agree it sounds like the job structure isn't supportive hence causing burnout. I will say though that after working in software the desire to work in the physical world to make physical things can be a real lure. So I understand the core question of switching to physical engineering work. It also provides a lot of understanding of how the physical world works which computer engineering doesn't provide.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone gone from software to physical engineering?

#66

Post by dan_quixote »

idiotsecant wrote: post #28

Don't do it. There's a reason there's way more EE and ME trying to get into pure software than the other way around. Software jobs are generally better quality of life, (way) better pay, better work location and time flexibility, and way-way-way less cat herding, logistics, and interaction with less technical parts of the business. Engineers are frequently overworked, unappreciated, and desk-bound.

I made the leap from physical to software engineering several years back and the quality-of-life difference is night-and-day. Certainly there are software devs that would find a better fit in the physical engineering world, but I think most will be suprised by the drop in quality-of-life that they've been accustomed to. The poster above mentioned several items (that my experience fully concurs with) and I have a few more:

- Many jobs require travel; often with little to no advance notice. And you sometimes don't get to go home until the job is done. You know how devs joke about how hard it is to accurately plan a project? The same applies here too, but except the cost could be you stuck on the other side of the world, unable to visit family, until you reconcile the gap.

- Even lower upward mobility. There are still manager and project manager tracks most places, but VERY few have technical tracks that match. Oh, and if you choose the manager/project-manager path, expect to do zero technical work AND travel significantly more!

- Lower flexibility in expertise/duties. Most disciplines under "physical engineering" are highly regulated/mature and thus do not change much these days. One not-entirely-contrived example could involve industrial-scale boilers - any engineer working in this world has almost zero room for creativity/innovation, you are entirely bound to 50+ year old industry codes that are insurmountable. And if this is what you do for 10 years, you're going to have a terribly difficult time convincing another company to hire you to design gears or PCBs, etc.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone gone from software to physical engineering?

#67

Post by [deleted] »

fistynuts wrote: post #56
idiotsecant wrote: post #28

Don't do it. There's a reason there's way more EE and ME trying to get into pure software than the other way around. Software jobs are generally better quality of life, (way) better pay, better work location and time flexibility, and way-way-way less cat herding, logistics, and interaction with less technical parts of the business. Engineers are frequently overworked, unappreciated, and desk-bound.

Software engineering is the most desk bound job in existence.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone gone from software to physical engineering?

#68

Post by beambot »

fistynuts wrote: post #56
idiotsecant wrote: post #28

Don't do it. There's a reason there's way more EE and ME trying to get into pure software than the other way around. Software jobs are generally better quality of life, (way) better pay, better work location and time flexibility, and way-way-way less cat herding, logistics, and interaction with less technical parts of the business. Engineers are frequently overworked, unappreciated, and desk-bound.

Software engineering is the most desk bound job in existence.

Perhaps, but your desk can be located anywhere.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone gone from software to physical engineering?

#69

Post by rdtwo »

yaseer wrote: post #36

I've done the reverse - I would recommend studying engineering, but I would not recommend the job market for physical engineering. I studied Engineering Science with Computer Science, did some Electronic Engineering before focusing on software. Studying diverse fields of engineering is intellectually stimulating and creates lots of transferrable skills (Who knew all that math I learned makes learning ML easy?). You w…

Also the jobs are in places that suck because they are trying to optimize for handouts and depress labor costs and avoid regulations

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone gone from software to physical engineering?

#70

Post by mywittyname »

tekno45 wrote: post #45
carabiner wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's fun until you have to rework the same part for the 20th time that day and your back is aching after driving into work at 6 am.

CNC machining would save your back a lot of pain right? I just watch youtube videos about it so idk how bad it gets. Manual machining seems cool as a hobby but CNC is what im interested in.

CNCs are a huge pain the the ass. Babysitting them is basically a full-time job.
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