Hey everyone,
I've been having this bug keep popping into my head about going back to school for Mechanical engineering. I'm currently a machinist at a small but lean product development company. Currently I program, and run 5 axis mills and I'm coming up on 5 years experience with this company and I'm kind of at a loss for my long term future. I don't think I really want to be doing this for the next 20 years of my life. The work is strenuous, still fun, but it takes its toll on me from time to time.
I find myself doing more and more design in my spare time in solidworks on my own with my work's remote license. I recently designed, machined, and put together a pretty large 3d printer for fun, and I currently have a pretty large library of things I've designed from desk fans to gadgets to multi-part fixtures to aid in assembly of larger parts for work. I see some of the assemblies that are designed 'across the hall' (our company's office space and shop are separated by a large loading dock hallway) by our various engineers/designers and can't help but kind of geek out at some of the designs that they come up with. At this point in my life I don't know if I get more satisfaction from actually making these assemblies and parts or if I would get more enjoyment from being the brains behind these designs.
I was looking at the course work for my local college's ME degree requirement page and I was surprised that I've already done quite a few of the assignments in high school.
I want to meet with the boss of the company, who is a pretty darn good engineer and also a nice guy, about my future with the company. I'd really like to stay on board with them because the work environment here is really positive all around; the machinists get along with the engineers and vice/versa. My biggest hang up is that a smaller company doesn't have as deep of pockets as a larger corporation where the pay might be bigger.
Which brings me to the pay. I'm paid well enough but the upper limit for someone in my position, in a small company isn't that great. I'm currently getting 24/hr which is enough for my lifestyle but, quite frankly, I want more. I know I have a good set of skills in product development/design, and some self taught engineering skills and I know that someone with my particular skill set could be getting a lot more doing engineering instead of manufacturing. I've spoken with a few of the engineers who have interviewed here and they're all pretty amazed at the machines and, quite honestly, have no idea what the limitations of the machines are and it's reflected in their designs.
I'm not quite sure what to do about all of this, if any of you guys who have gone through the course and have degrees have any advice for someone who's curious about it, let me know what your thoughts are. If any of you are seasoned veterans of mechanical design who have words of wisdom about a career change or otherwise I'd love to hear them.
[link] [comments]
from The ME Hang Out https://ift.tt/2m5mZP8 https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Comments
Post a Comment