
Ask HN: Opportunities for combining programming with math/physics - strsuffix
Hi! I&#x27;m a software engineer, in my late 20&#x27;s, located in Europe, working on Java enterprise applications.<p>I love physics, mathematics. I simply love the clarity of mathematics, the abstract yet elegant way of reasoning, and how everything falls together. I am also curious about the world around; and I simply find reasoning about the natural world, using mathematics is abstract way of thinking, and witnessing how this abstract reasoning leads to deep insights, later confirmed, an irresistible satisfaction. I am amazed about how many things we know about the Universe around us, and about how many things we discovered in the last century.<p>In my free time, I allocate time for learning mathematics, physics. But I&#x27;m worried about my future (will I be employable in my 40&#x27;s, 50&#x27;s?), and about the fact that I&#x27;m losing time instead of preparing for my career. I say to myself, that due to current problems (global warming, pollution) there will be a big need for physicists in the future, that by combining knowledge of math&#x2F;physics with machine learning I will be able to track energy, new materials design, environmental problems, that quantum computers are the next big thing, and so on.<p>From your knowledge or experience, do you know if there are career path combining programming with mathematics&#x2F;physics skills? Am I a dreamer in the sky?
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sh87
I was a 20 something developer, now, I'm in my early 30's and still on
something similar.

If you find yourself enjoying math, cryptography and security may be for you.
It's not a hype like 'data science' or 'AI/ML' but one look at the security
community will tell you how important the area is. Give it a try, it may
change your life.

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redavni
I don't have any direct experience here, but sensor design comes to mind.
Satellite sensor design especially tends to be a secure job since they have
long design/build times, and long mission lengths.

