Hey Everyone-

To start off, here is a little bit of background, I am 26 and an accountant, I've been doing it for about 5 years now the money, benefits, job security, and my overall marketability are putting me on track to have a comfortable life which is great...except for the fact that I am miserable just about every day while at work. I've talked to too many people that don't really care about what they do, and are fine with just having a paycheck at the end of the week. I envy those people, because unlike me they don't go home and think about what they spent their days doing. Being able to have pride in something you’ve made is important to me. I've spent way a lot of time thinking about what exactly makes me miserable and the answer I've come up with is accounting isn't the "brain space" my mind likes operating in, the elaborate realm of balance sheets and income statement, it prefers the solving tangible problems.
My passion for working with my hands started when I was 9ish, and was given a my first model for a birthday, a 1980s caprice interceptor, I spent all weekend on that sucker and by the end of the weekend it may have been dripping with excess glue and may have not have been ascetically pleasing but it was mine, I made it and it felt great. When I was 10-12ish I received my very own electrical circuit play kit, something along of the lines of this. I used to spend days in my room playing with it, until I did every single project that was in the book. When I was 15 I started my first summer job working at a repair shop, Universal Auto Repair in Cherry Hill, giving me the opportunity to learn about the repair, function, and overall complexity that goes into all the systems of a car. I always knew I liked cars, but that is when I fell in love with them. From that moment forward I wanted to be a mechanic, I knew it was in my blood. Like Vin Dieseal in the Fast and the Furious I “had nitrous oxide in my blood” and according to everyone mechanic that worked at universal “…a gas tank for a brain”. I couldn’t get a single mechanic to get behind me. Everyone I talked to said the same exact thing. …go to school …get a comfortable job …don’t turn wrenches for the rest of your life. So I listened and went to college to get a degree in a reputable, employable field - accounting. During a summer vacation I had the opportunity to build a deck for a friend’s parents. They had hired a contractor, bought the supplies, and at the last second the contractor backed out. I had no plans that summer so I volunteered my services, they accepted and at that point I realized I had no idea what to do, had never built a deck in my life and was horrified at the idea of messing up. Fortunately, I didn’t, I bought a book, read it and got to work. It took a lot of time, I worked slowly and carefully and at the end of it all the deck was built and it was probably the first time I felt real pride. I built that gosh darn thing and to this day they have receive compliments on how well built it is from contractors they have hired for other services. Is it too much to ask for that kind of feeling at work? Maybe.

I’ve gotten really off topic, call it the Friday blues. To get to the point, I realize that I am closer to 30 than 20, that makes me feel like I should start taking charge of my life before I get stuck in my profession forever. I’ve done research and found a profession that seems to meet mid way between business and engineering – Industrial Engineering.

I am at a crossroads (no, not the early 2000s Britney spears movie, and if you got that reference, what’s wrong with you?) Part of me wants to go back to school get formal education in industrial engineering and part of me, probably the bigger part, wants to learn CAD, the basics of engineering on my own, and see if I can turn it into a business. How I don’t know yet. I want to test the waters by building a Frankenracer. I want to buy the shell of a car from a junk yard, along with a big engine and trans then install it, weld a roll cage and see if it works. I would like to use CAD and general design knowledge to figure out where and how to weld a functional cage together, how to build all the brackets to be able to mount an engine to a frame which it does not belong to, how to build a bracket to pair the trans and engine together. Build something that is MINE get that sense of pride back. Being that I don’t have any knowledge, I was hoping someone would be able to point me in the right direction, are there any good, site, books, DIY classes that anyone can recommend to familiar yourself with CAD and general engineering principles so that I will somewhat prepared for the project ahead.

If anyone wants to chime in regarding any topic feel free, all feedback is welcome. Any engineers/accountants that want to talk about their experiences please feel free to add your experiences.

Thanks for reading.

 

I'm an engineer who uses AutoCAD on a daily basis. Went to school for mechanical eng, and we used a program called SolidWorks there. In my opinion, SolidWorks would be a much better option for what you want to do than AutoCAD would be. Unfortunately, it's extremely expensive, and there aren't too many cheap alternatives out there. I think to do what you want to do, finding classes in automotive-specific topics would be your best bet. For some topics, full engineering curriculum is almost unavoidable due to how much you need to conceptually cover. Beyond classes though, I think the best thing is to find people who are mechanically inclined and doing what you want to do, and hang out with them, gathering as much first hand knowledge and experience as possible.

 

Are you currently employed in the engineering field? If so do you like it?

For a long time I've considered going back to school but it is very difficult to walk away from a money generating job to take on more debt for school for basically another undergrad degree since business doesn't really remotely start to prepare you for any intro engineering classes. That is why I hope I will be able to get the same information through informal means. The final question I have for you is were do mechanically inclined people hang out?

 

online you can try lynda.com . I've been doing some photoshop CC sessions. I haven't signed up formally, so I'm limited. Worth a shot, particularly on the use of an application.

I also read somewhere that MIT offers all of their courses online for free? Never checked it out, but here: http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm

 

I've been on MIT courseware before.

Lynda looks like a pretty cool site. I'm going to do some digging around on it.

 

Sounds to me like you love working with your hands but don't want a desk job. Are you sure you wouldn't just end up working at a desk again with an IE degree? Most of the engineers I know (who admittedly are in other fields) have desk jobs.

I'm all for you making a change tho! I can't imagine working every day at a job I hated

 

Yes, I'm currently a design engineer for a material handling company. I do like it and I really can't complain because I have a job in my field, but I'd much prefer to be in the automotive industry (just like most other mech engineers, it seems). It's definitely a fulfilling career so far, but these days you almost definitely need some sort of engineering degree to get started in it, even if it's just an associates.

In answer to your other question, I wish I could tell you. Haha. I met most of my mechanical friends in school, but I would say going to car meets/Cars and Coffee would be a good place to meet some interesting and mechanical people. Also a good way to get constructive input on your car or referrals to quality shops and mechanics in your area.

 

Ye tell me about it. That is something I have considered, sitting for an entire day sucks, no doubt about it, but what other profession is there where you can make decent money, work with your hand, and design widgets, gadgets?


Yes, I'm currently a design engineer for a material handling company. I do like it and I really can't complain because I have a job in my field, but I'd much prefer to be in the automotive industry (just like most other mech engineers, it seems). It's definitely a fulfilling career so far, but these days you almost definitely need some sort of engineering degree to get started in it, even if it's just an associates.

In answer to your other question, I wish I could tell you. Haha. I met most of my mechanical friends in school, but I would say going to car meets/Cars and Coffee would be a good place to meet some interesting and mechanical people. Also a good way to get constructive input on your car or referrals to quality shops and mechanics in your area.
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In your day to day are you sitting behind a desk or do you go out to the production floor and test out designs?

Cars and Coffee, is a start.

Thanks for all the help.

 

In your day to day are you sitting behind a desk or do you go out to the production floor and test out designs?

Cars and Coffee, is a start.

Thanks for all the help.
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Day to day, I'm at a desk. Definitely not one of my favorite things about this job. But every now and then, I'll get to go to a site and see the system I designed, which is nice. Very few and far between though, 98% a desk job. There are a lot of times I wish I could just spend a couple days a week as a barista again making coffee and talking to customers, or in the garage wrenching on my senior design project again. But I look at it as just what I have to do to live a bit more comfortably and to support my mechanical hobbies outside of work.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad job. But if you really can't stand primarily working at a desk in front of a computer and that's what you're trying to escape, this probably isn't going to be something you enjoy. The only way I could see you spending ample time physically making something is if you're working for yourself (not just design work) or working in R&D somewhere. However, R&D typically requires the top cut of the engineers, so you'll have to keep that in mind during your studies.

 

.... everyone in my school pirated solidworks.

Most automotive companies use CATIA though, it has much stronger surfacing features.

If you really do mech eng, it's a little hard to get into the industry you want (automotive)

When you were talking about building a frame, knowing about how strong to build things would be more mechanical than industrial.