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Mechanical Engineer who lives to get hands dirty

burdickjp

Aluminum
Joined
Apr 4, 2014
Location
Detroit, MI, USA
I recently graduated from Southern Illinois University with a
Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering and am looking for employment.

I bring more than a decade of problem solving skills from a diversity of environments, from combat to racing. I am familiar with machining practices and product development for manufacturing. Though I would not call myself a machinist, I've work experience in manual and CNC machining and have a mill and lathe at home which I use on a regular basis. I'm fluent in Solidworks, and familiar with AutoDesk, and PTC Creo. I am eager to apply what I know in new places and learn new skills in the process. I'm currently taking CNC programming classes at the local community college, for instance.

Beyond the mechanical, I have an informal education in electronics and computers. I run Linux as my primary operating system, and made extensive use of Python in my education, and some wiring/C in programming Arduinos. I'm capable with a soldering iron and built wiring harnesses for several cars.

I want to work in a job which allows me to work with my hands and exercise my brain. I want to be in an environment where I can continue learning, growing, and iterating. Eventually I would like to continue my formal education, and am hoping to one day have a PhD in Engineering, probably with something involving additive manufacturing.

My dream job is working in a rapid manufacturing or prototyping environment capable of additive manufacturing in many materials and fully equipped with manual and CNC machine tools.

I have a few unusual ways to showcase my work, which I feel you will find interesting:

While at SIU my senior design project was the world's first open source DLP 3d printer. I did all of the mechanical design, machining, assembly, and calibration of the prototype.

Here's the project's GitHub page: Project PAM by ProjectPAM

In my spare time I maintain some other open source hardware projects on my own.

This is a quick change tool post for my lathe at home: https://github.com/librematter/qctp

This is an air filter plate for my project car: https://github.com/librematter/PX600FilterPlate

I've also recently started a Shapeways store for some designs I've done of velocity stacks for my project car. I designed these in a parameterized fashion to easily test different intake runner lengths on my engine. They are intended to maximize additive manufacturing in ways which would be difficult with traditional manufacturing methods, such as minizing material usage and having ribbing under the turn of the bellmouth.

https://www.shapeways.com/shops/OrionEngineeredMachineworks

Thank you for your time.
 
I think you're headed for the world of self employment. Engineer = office. That's just how it goes. There are a few jobs, maybe at smaller companies where you can get some hands on action, but most engineering is done from behind a desk.

I started out at an automotive OEM. 95% of my job was done at a desk. I hated it and was climbing the walls. Then I moved to manufacturing engineering in a CNC machine shop. There, my desk time was less, but still more than 80%.

The only way I could figure out to get the job I wanted was to start my own business. Now I don't make nearly the money I did behind the desk, but I'm much more satisfied.
 
I think you're headed for the world of self employment. Engineer = office. That's just how it goes. There are a few jobs, maybe at smaller companies where you can get some hands on action, but most engineering is done from behind a desk.

The only way I could figure out to get the job I wanted was to start my own business. Now I don't make nearly the money I did behind the desk, but I'm much more satisfied.

Who makes prototypes? Who does rapid manufacturing? WHERE DO I FIND THESE PEOPLE?! I want to associate with them, find out how they got there, and work in that direction.

I don't have any access to the capital I'd need to fill out the tools to do these things.
 
Generally, machinists do machining. A company that can afford to hire an engineer isn't going to pay him to do the work a machinist or operator can do.
 
Generally, machinists do machining. A company that can afford to hire an engineer isn't going to pay him to do the work a machinist or operator can do.

I understand any job which involves getting dirty is, strangely enough, going to involve a cut in pay. If it were about the money I'd be happy where I am.
 

Good lord I hope that's a joke. Stay away from huge, faceless, government contractors. Might as well go work for GM...

I'd look for the smallest, start-up-iest, geekiest company I could find. Something with "Green" or "I" in the company name. Those places always need some hipster machinist type who can actually get something done.
 
I pay engineers to do machining... At least of their own designs, prototypes and customs. It makes for much better designed parts.

Your project PAM will be impressive to an employer when you have a functional prototype. Anybody can make a pretty render. Turning a pretty render into a working thing takes... hands dirty.
 
I pay engineers to do machining... At least of their own designs, prototypes and customs. It makes for much better designed parts.

Your project PAM will be impressive to an employer when you have a functional prototype. Anybody can make a pretty render. Turning a pretty render into a working thing takes... hands dirty.

There is a functional prototype. I machined the whole thing myself. Good point, though, that we need a better portfolio for the project.

https://twitter.com/ProjectPAM

I'm the one with the big hipster beard (and dirty hands). I shaved it when I got my diploma.
 
Good lord I hope that's a joke. Stay away from huge, faceless, government contractors. Might as well go work for GM...

I'd look for the smallest, start-up-iest, geekiest company I could find. Something with "Green" or "I" in the company name. Those places always need some hipster machinist type who can actually get something done.


If I was an engineer the first place I would apply is IRobot they have their own prototype shop and biuld custom robots for the goverment as well as commercial
 
If I was an engineer the first place I would apply is IRobot they have their own prototype shop and biuld custom robots for the goverment as well as commercial
Done. Thanks for mentioning it. I was familiar with their consumer goods. Never ran across them while I was wearing a uniform. Didn't realize they did defense work. More importantly, that's the kind of defense work I ethically agree with.
 
I would suggest looking into military research facilities. Several of the ones I work with have machine shops on sight, the engineers typically are assembling and fabricating portions of their designs.

The Carderock naval facilities (think you can check their website for jobs) and Aberdeen proving grounds have some pretty cool research shops setup, its just a matter of finding what area of research you are interested in. A lot of them also provide educational funding if your interested in working twords your PHD.
 
I would suggest looking into military research facilities. Several of the ones I work with have machine shops on sight, the engineers typically are assembling and fabricating portions of their designs.

The Carderock naval facilities (think you can check their website for jobs) and Aberdeen proving grounds have some pretty cool research shops setup, its just a matter of finding what area of research you are interested in. A lot of them also provide educational funding if your interested in working twords your PHD.

Is this another joke? In my career I have been involved with government research work twice, and defense work once and never really was happy much with the way things took place. On the research end it seemed like the game was more about pandering for the next grant, and results didn't matter so much as how you spun it in the final paper you wrote at the end of the project.

In the defense side of things I found that the work was 90% paperwork 9% meetings and BS and another 1% engineering. Also it seemed like there too it was more or less about getting the job done with the most people (ie. job creation possible) than anything else. BTW when it comes to govenrnment research facilities, maybe some buck the trend but my experience from what I have seen is more often than not those people run around handing out money and requesting research and doing little to no engineering. Most of the engineering work I have seen usually gets done in private industry by subcontractors of subcontractors.

Anyhow getting back to the original subject I finally found the job after years of frustration that is more or less what the OP is asking for. Said position is most likely going to come by the name of "project engineer" or something similar but be found at a custom machine builder. There virtually everything you do will be prototypes, the jobs will all be different and as soon as you figure out how to do something well it is time to go on to the next one. If your place is anything like the one I work at you may need to save most of your machining and welding desires to the home shop, but you will be working with your hands right along side a lot of really sharp skilled tradesmen who can really help get you across the finish line.

One more thought to keep in mind. The majority of jobs as an engineer you will be working on existing platforms where the company more or less is just trying to evolve things further down the line. If you go work for say a 3D printer maker chances are at the beginning you will be stuck with more or less making minor improvements to their existing product line. Much of the creativity you got to use in your college program likely won't happen, as the more senior engineers will show you the way that things are done where you work. All the more reason to seek out a custom machine builder where no two machines they make are usually the same. That is what I call fun. If you hang out here long enough you probably have read some of Motion Guru's posts about his company, if not start reading some and think if the custom machine building world sounds like fun.

Also one more thing, if you want to get your hands dirty, I would recommend ditching the idea of a PhD, with the exception of the occasional interesting one you may meet in the academic world by the time you become a PhD in industry 99% of the time you will be in a highly theoretical little bunker where your knowledge will be very specialized, maybe to say figuring out the aerodynamics over an airfoil or something. You will be considered an expert and paid accordingly for the one little niche the company needs you to do but will likely have few opportunities outside your specialty as most companies will assume the PhD is going to cost them a lot more.

One last thing to keep in mind, take every bit of career advice including mine with a grain of salt as no two careers will ever be the same, advice that works one place may not work in the next place. Perhaps a PhD will actually be your ticket to unchartered success who knows. My only thoughts are spend some real time in industry before you make that choice and make sure it makes sense for you, as while it could open a few very nice doors for you it could also close a whole lot more of them, at least from what I have seen.
 
where are you located? You never know some shops close to your location might invite you for a visit.
Right now I'm in Decatur, IL.
More than being willing to relocate, I WANT to relocate. My wife is a teacher and the state of Illinois is playing games with the teacher's pension fund. We want to get out of this state so she can have a retirement to look forward to when that time comes. This is why I did not list a location.
 
You're in a tough place to find a job right now. Illinois is such a crap hole of corruption and economic stagnation. Our government has effectively done nothing for the last 5 months, yet no one really even notices.

My first taste of hands-on work as an engineer was in the machine shop of a large foundry. I actually got to run the machines and prove out my own programs. Later I started building the fixtures and tools what we used on the machines.

Eventually, I kind of plateaued there and started getting restless. Instead of finding a new job, I just started my own shop. It's been a tough slog, but I think it was the right move.
 
Right now I'm in Decatur, IL.
More than being willing to relocate, I WANT to relocate. My wife is a teacher and the state of Illinois is playing games with the teacher's pension fund. We want to get out of this state so she can have a retirement to look forward to when that time comes. This is why I did not list a location.

Well I guess that rules out me trying to help you get a job in Connecticut, I think our pension fund is in only slightly better shape than yours!

On a more serious note, make sure the two of you have roth IRA's set up, and also see if you can't get her into a 403B program ASAP. People are living far longer these days and I have a feeling when everyone retires at 55 and lives till 100 there won't be many solvent pension funds anywhere. I have yet to hear of a single person who got to retirement and realized that they had too much money but I have heard of it working disastrously the other way around.
 
Are you interested in firearm design at all?

Currently I own a small company and work closely with a larger one that is in a completely different field. But the combination of your 3D additive interest and mechanical engineering could help both companies. We are currently working on building our own "spaghetti" printer (coreXY style) after a couple of purchased machines didn't meet our requirements.
 








 
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