Am I doing something crazy? I just passed the PE exam, going to quit my job for full time grad school to study Computer Science

[ericjiangpsu]

This may sound strange to most of you... 

The reason i took the PE exam was not for salary raise, getting more responsibility, promotion, or anything like that.

I treated it as an unfulfilled wish, that i have to make it before i moving on other career. Also as a milestone for my life that I did accomplish something as an engineer.

I studied hard 

I worked in engineering consulting firm  in the last 4 years (nuclear, chemical processing, pharmaceutical), and some CAD before that. 

My work is mostly doing spreadsheet calculations, preparing engineering document, field surveys, lots of communications to get info, and some project management stuff.

I've been struggled these years due to the fact that "I DON'T LIKE TO TALK", which makes me always work in a very passive mode. I really can't see my future as an Consultant engineer.

I am going to turn 30 next year, and i don't have much computer programming experience (one course took for C++ and Matlab in college, that's it).

I know there are  lots of fascinating  things going on in the new fields of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Industry 4.0+,  etc.

I don't know how exactly a MSCS degree can help me land to any of these fields, but i know this is a Now or Never decision. So, i decided to do it now.

I am currently doing ok financially,  so if this doesn't work well, the worst scenario will be I waste 2 years of time and money, and look for something else.

If anyone here have any advice to my situation, please help me out. I really appreciate!

 

[ericjiangpsu]

In addition,

I do love being an engineer very much. I will do engineering as a life career, not just a job. I want to implement computer science to my future engineering practice.

Just like all of you, i repair household stuff, do plumbing, own lots of tools, always get my hand dirty.

 

[Sheshtawy]

This may sound strange to most of you... 

The reason i took the PE exam was not for salary raise, getting more responsibility, promotion, or anything like that.

I treated it as an unfulfilled wish, that i have to make it before i moving on other career. Also as a milestone for my life that I did accomplish something as an engineer.

I studied hard 

I worked in engineering consulting firm  in the last 4 years (nuclear, chemical processing, pharmaceutical), and some CAD before that. 

My work is mostly doing spreadsheet calculations, preparing engineering document, field surveys, lots of communications to get info, and some project management stuff.

I've been struggled these years due to the fact that "I DON'T LIKE TO TALK", which makes me always work in a very passive mode. I really can't see my future as an Consultant engineer.

I am going to turn 30 next year, and i don't have much computer programming experience (one course took for C++ and Matlab in college, that's it).

I know there are  lots of fascinating  things going on in the new fields of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Industry 4.0+,  etc.

I don't know how exactly a MSCS degree can help me land to any of these fields, but i know this is a Now or Never decision. So, i decided to do it now.

I am currently doing ok financially,  so if this doesn't work well, the worst scenario will be I waste 2 years of time and money, and look for something else.

If anyone here have any advice to my situation, please help me out. I really appreciate!

I don't think you're going to do anything crazy at all! You're a 30-year old engineer and you're obviously smart enough to know what you want to do next. It seems like you've given this decision a lot of thought and weighed the opportunities against the risks. I'd say go for it and I wish you all the best!

 

[Audi Driver P.E.]

I think so.  Why not just change jobs in the same field.  Not every mech. engineering job requires you to consult.  It's a big field.

 

[wilheldp_PE]

I think the mistake you are making is quitting your job to go "whole hog" into computer science.  There are MSCS programs out there that you can do with evening/weekend classes.  There is really no reason to sacrifice 2 years of engineering pay to pursue your dream when there is an alternative that pays you while you study.

 

[ezzieyguywuf]

There's lots of ways of getting exposure to programming while still leveraging your mechanical engineering background. One way I've found that works for me is working on mechatronic type stuff - i.e. buying a small/cheap microcontroller (arduino works great for this, but there are others such as teensy which can be coded in raw C instead of the BASIC-style arduino programming language), some sensors/motors/relays, and building something. I've built a temperature controller for a keezer this way, as well as an electronic boil kettle for brewing beer.

Of course, there's no reason to keep this at the 'hobby level' as I have done. There are whole industries focused on automation. When I was working as a mechanical engineer, we would frequently contract outside companies to design 'turn key' solutions for particular manufacturing lines that we felt could be automated effectively. This company would work with us to develop a detailed spec and then they'd design, build, debug the whole thing. Perhaps pursuing a career in this type of industry would suit you better than the consulting you're doing now?

I don't know that these types of job per se require a programming degree, but knowing how to program and being able to do it effectively would make you a lot more marketable. In my experience, there are plenty of mech. e's that learned a little bit of VBA or Matlab and take that rudimentary knowledge and use it to build large complex projects. While the end result works, the code base inevitably ends up bloated, slow, and impossible to maintain. Having a firm understanding of general programming practices, design patterns (what's a design pattern?) and forming good habits (comment your code!) will go a long way, trust me.

But, as others have said, I don't think you're doing anything crazy. I'm posting this merely to give you an idea of your choices as well as to, hopefully, guide you in the right direction. I learned a ton about programming over the past 10 or so years (i'm almost 30 myself) mostly by just reading stuff on the internet. I've learned enough, though, that I feel comfortable marketing my programming knowledge, and use it from time to time in my job to make certain repetitive tasks less painful.

Good luck!

 

[ericjiangpsu]

There's lots of ways of getting exposure to programming while still leveraging your mechanical engineering background. One way I've found that works for me is working on mechatronic type stuff - i.e. buying a small/cheap microcontroller (arduino works great for this, but there are others such as teensy which can be coded in raw C instead of the BASIC-style arduino programming language), some sensors/motors/relays, and building something. I've built a temperature controller for a keezer this way, as well as an electronic boil kettle for brewing beer.

Of course, there's no reason to keep this at the 'hobby level' as I have done. There are whole industries focused on automation. When I was working as a mechanical engineer, we would frequently contract outside companies to design 'turn key' solutions for particular manufacturing lines that we felt could be automated effectively. This company would work with us to develop a detailed spec and then they'd design, build, debug the whole thing. Perhaps pursuing a career in this type of industry would suit you better than the consulting you're doing now?

I don't know that these types of job per se require a programming degree, but knowing how to program and being able to do it effectively would make you a lot more marketable. In my experience, there are plenty of mech. e's that learned a little bit of VBA or Matlab and take that rudimentary knowledge and use it to build large complex projects. While the end result works, the code base inevitably ends up bloated, slow, and impossible to maintain. Having a firm understanding of general programming practices, design patterns (what's a design pattern?) and forming good habits (comment your code!) will go a long way, trust me.

But, as others have said, I don't think you're doing anything crazy. I'm posting this merely to give you an idea of your choices as well as to, hopefully, guide you in the right direction. I learned a ton about programming over the past 10 or so years (i'm almost 30 myself) mostly by just reading stuff on the internet. I've learned enough, though, that I feel comfortable marketing my programming knowledge, and use it from time to time in my job to make certain repetitive tasks less painful.

Good luck!

Thank you! 

 

[sayed]

This may sound strange to most of you... 

The reason i took the PE exam was not for salary raise, getting more responsibility, promotion, or anything like that.

I treated it as an unfulfilled wish, that i have to make it before i moving on other career. Also as a milestone for my life that I did accomplish something as an engineer.

I studied hard 

I worked in engineering consulting firm  in the last 4 years (nuclear, chemical processing, pharmaceutical), and some CAD before that. 

My work is mostly doing spreadsheet calculations, preparing engineering document, field surveys, lots of communications to get info, and some project management stuff.

I've been struggled these years due to the fact that "I DON'T LIKE TO TALK", which makes me always work in a very passive mode. I really can't see my future as an Consultant engineer.

I am going to turn 30 next year, and i don't have much computer programming experience (one course took for C++ and Matlab in college, that's it).

I know there are  lots of fascinating  things going on in the new fields of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Industry 4.0+,  etc.

I don't know how exactly a MSCS degree can help me land to any of these fields, but i know this is a Now or Never decision. So, i decided to do it now.

I am currently doing ok financially,  so if this doesn't work well, the worst scenario will be I waste 2 years of time and money, and look for something else.

If anyone here have any advice to my situation, please help me out. I really appreciate!

i don't understand, what advice are you looking for? It is pretty clear you know what you want to do.

do you have kids? wife? looking for a wife? looking to move? have a part time consulting firm to pay bills while you study? need help putting up your own firm?

you need to give more information about yourself to see what could be advised to you.

 

[sayed]

I do love being an engineer very much. I will do engineering as a life career, not just a job.

Just like all of you, i repair household stuff, do plumbing, own lots of tools, always get my hand dirty.

we're on the same boat on the second statement. completely differ on the first.

I find engineering very unfulfilling. that's why i take on work that isn't just engineering. Such as management, installations, construction, etc.

 

[COMechanical]

It sounds like you are just getting bored and may not want to do so much communication.

I agree, I have been in consulting for a large Pharma/biotech firm (3.5 years exp.) and it gets tiring. I feel like I do not want to do the same process again over and over even though they say "every project is different". Each project is very similar once you have done ~10..

I say go for it - you will not regret making a big change because you can ALWAYS get a job as a consultant again.

keep us updated. I would say you could do it on the side, but that will take forever. Once you go all-in you will move much more quickly.

-E