Ask HN: Mechanical engineer that wants to work in the programming field • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Mechanical engineer that wants to work in the programming field

#31

Post by vlokshin » Fri, Mar 27, 2015, 5:15 PM UTC

I'm a 27 year old and my B.S. was in mechanical engineering -- I work in the "app/startup" world. I think MechE helped.

Best advice I can give you: Start building things now. The languages are cool, but there's so much more value to being able to build complete-loop products, and I think any engineering mindsets are a great start for working with creating digital products (programming). If you want to take part in an opportunity/make a shift, (your) value has to meet (market) opportunity.

To be honest, I do more wireframing now than anything else (I'm also lucky enough to now have a team that is much better at designing or programming than I am). I think my undergrad in mechE had a huge impact on where I am now -- (1) from how I think and (2) from how much "programmers" or non-programmers respect engineers, or anyone technical, in today's digital world.

The shift can be a very natural one, but web and mobile are where you should probably be focused. That's simply where there' a lot more demand.

I'm not sure how helpful I can ever be, but please feel free to email me for any advice or just to chat: Vlad(at)darwinapps.com

Re: Ask HN: Mechanical engineer that wants to work in the programming field

#32

Post by bartuc » Fri, Mar 27, 2015, 6:53 PM UTC

svec wrote: post #14

Can you get a job as a mechanical engineer somewhere that would allow you to move into programming at the same company? I ask because it's probably easier for you to get a job as an ME (mechanical engineer) than a software engineer, given your background. Silicon Valley has plenty of robotics companies and other companies that make "real stuff" who need mechanical engineers. And once you're in a company as a producti…

Having worked in Boston for a few years before moving to the bay area, I can confirm that Boston has numerous software+hardware/robotics startups. However I've found that in the bay area hardly anyone is interested in robotics, and the ones that are only seem to only be working with drones (mostly quadcopters and the like, which don't seem practical for many of the proposed use cases).

Re: Ask HN: Mechanical engineer that wants to work in the programming field

#33

Post by scottndecker » Fri, Mar 27, 2015, 7:49 PM UTC

jkubicek wrote: post #27

scottndecker wrote: post #2

I have an MS in Mechanical Engineering from an Ivy League university. While I got my degree I too learned Matlab as well as C. I wrote my masters thesis on a controlled mechanism for the breakup of microdroplets in a bidisperse emulsion. Eight months after graduating and working in industry, I came to the same conclusion as you: that I preferred writing code to working in the mechanical world. I started learning Java…

Agreed. I did almost the exact same path. Once you've gotten that first job and have a few years of professional software development under your belt, changing jobs is very easy. Potential employers see "software engineer" and "PhD" on your resume and don't care that it's an ME degree. Btw, scottndecker, did you go to Rose-Hulman for undergrad?

Nope. Dartmouth.

Re: Ask HN: Mechanical engineer that wants to work in the programming field

#34

Post by Dewie » Sat, Mar 28, 2015, 12:36 AM UTC

ashwinaj wrote: post #30

Dewie wrote: post #4

Maybe first travel to the West Coast on a vacation or something to get a feel for what it's actually like. If you haven't already.

I second this. Don't be swayed by what you see and read in the media. Silicon Valley isn't a place for everyone and can be incredibly stressful. On the bright side, it's a very diverse place with tons of stuff to do, great weather, smart people and is easily one of the best places in the US (IMO anyway).

A friend wanted to become a lawyer in LA (he's not American). He travelled there once, and he changed his mind about that for some reason. That saved him some time from starting to study American law, I guess.

Re: Ask HN: Mechanical engineer that wants to work in the programming field

#35

Post by replicant » Sat, Mar 28, 2015, 12:36 AM UTC

john_b wrote: post #15

I'm a mechanical engineer by training (B.S. and M.S.) but most of my day to day work is software development, testing, analysis, etc in the aviation industry. I haven't done anything "mechanical" for money since graduating. Unless you want to do web development, you shouldn't try to sell yourself as "just a programmer." If a company is only looking for someone with programming skills they will probably favor someone…

This path is really appealing to me. Now, knowing that there is a demand for the people between the two worlds, I will spend some time looking for offers, and prepare a CV accordingly.

Moving to US seems a bit harder, but I wouldn't mind if I achieve this in the long term.

Re: Ask HN: Mechanical engineer that wants to work in the programming field

#36

Post by replicant » Sat, Mar 28, 2015, 12:59 AM UTC

svec wrote: post #14

Can you get a job as a mechanical engineer somewhere that would allow you to move into programming at the same company? I ask because it's probably easier for you to get a job as an ME (mechanical engineer) than a software engineer, given your background. Silicon Valley has plenty of robotics companies and other companies that make "real stuff" who need mechanical engineers. And once you're in a company as a producti…

Thanks :) After reading the comments, indeed, I will be considering this possibility.

Re: Ask HN: Mechanical engineer that wants to work in the programming field

#37

Post by replicant » Sat, Mar 28, 2015, 1:06 AM UTC

phdp wrote: post #25

balls2you wrote: post #20

Don't join Silicon Valley. Your skills are more valued and paid for in Finance. Real hard cash not worthless options that may have value in the future. EDIT: also do not "commoditize" yourself by becoming a web developer or an iPhone/Android developer either. Do the difficult technical stuff, aim for the "non-low-hanging-fruit" and you will make tons of money, esp. in Finance.

I did this, and played up my ability to analyze real world situations when applying for a quant modeling job. A lot of my lab work was empirical modeling, so transitioning from student to my current job wasn't difficult. It also helps to have some background in coding. I did c++/matlab/java in college for lab work and classes. Everyone that is under 35 in my group has a scientific background, ranging from me (MSE in…

I never considered this possibility. Could you recommend some link where I could read about the field and see if I have chance? It is not really what motivates me, but it is worth informing myself before discarding it.