Masters in Mechanical Engineering. I want to work in the Programming field | Hacker News Reader

Masters in Mechanical Engineering. I want to work in the Programming field

4 pointshumoga_shi_ma7 comments

I am 27 years old and did Masters in Mechanical(Thermal, Fluid) Engineering. I have 3+ years of experience as CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) application engineer in Automotive industry.

I am thinking from quite some time to switch from application to programming/development field. I have written small codes in Matlab/C++/Fortran to solve flow problems in Bachelors and Masters. But I don't have any professional experience in coding.

Can anyone suggest me some ideas on what I should try to learn or do in the next 6 months to enter into programming field? I am thinking of something on the lines of computational science. Should I take up some online course alongside my job? Can you suggest some online courses that can be of help? Can you suggest some areas/fields where i can work in programming field?

I am also open to work on a complete non-mechanical/non-science field. Can you guide as to how can i start onto this path?

Your guidance will be very helpful.

The most important question: WHY do you want to change?

If it is because you think you might like programming, then take some online courses. There are are plenty of free / cheap ones. If you have trouble choosing - email at hacker AT NOSQL dot com

If you have a masters in mechanical engineering, then you should be able to get a JR dev job after 6 months of practice.

The work has become monotonous and not much challenging. I don't see myself doing repetitive things using a simulation software in future.

Anything specific language/topic to focus on for developer job?

Most developer jobs quickly become monotonous as well, especially at the entry level.

You say you have 3 years experience with CFD, yet not much programming experience -- that doesn't exactly make sense to me.

Have you looked at how CFD is similar to the flow of money, goods, music, video, etc? Making career changes based on what you already know, but in a different field is far more effective than restarting at the bottom on a new profession. Perhaps you could look at what areas of application appeal to you more than automotive and then look at how you could apply at least part of your existing expertise to that area. Once you have that sorted, you could focus your programming learning within that domain and thus start looking for work in that new area.

> I am thinking of something on the lines of computational science

I would consider doing some Python projects then! Start tinkering every day and treat it as an educational experience. Python is a very popular and ubiquitous tool that has a great fit in many industries.

The above is akin to my own learning-style where I don't jump into a course, I just start building something and solve real-world problems with code. Along the way I start to find the good books, blogs, communities, etc. that exist around the technical solution that I am learning and naturally start digesting that in parallel to the "hands-on" work I am doing. Structured coursework just doesn't do it for me but that's a personal thing =)

Online courses may be helpful, but I recommend applying for a junior development position and seeking immediate employment. Professional experience will impart far more technical knowledge than coursework.

I am sorry - I can not agree with this. A LOT of people think that they want to be developers, but find out it can be very frustrating.

I suggest taking a few courses first to see if you like development.

I'm not in computational work as a dev, but I would argue that coursework and the how things work in the professional world are two different ballgames. Jumping into the deep-end isn't always bad advice =)

I also agree with you at the same time. Just playing devil's advocate!

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