
Ask HN: Advice for a Helicopter Technician? - Pmcneeley
I am currently a helicopter aircraft maintenance engineer (AME-M, diploma program) in Canada, with 5 years as a licensed engineer, taking care of 6 helicopters and a base by myself. At 27 years old, with 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off this would be the dream job of many. However, I have hit a plateau in career advancement and lost interest in aircraft, as a majority of the job is dealing with systems that are 50+ years old, to which I am only a parts changer. One of my career disappointments is being unable redesign failing mechanisms within aviation, even if the recurring problems have known solutions.<p>Throughout the past few years I have experimented with 3d printers, learning arduino and designing parts for mechanisms in the tinkering field. I have a keen interest in designing my own devices to function as tools for jobs or every day life activities. I am interested in automation systems or simple robotics to finish a task. In 2012 I enjoyed running a small company designing 3d printed tools to be used on helicopters in place of expensive metal cnc tools, however the industry is too niche to be fully self employed. 
But sometimes I feel I am missing out on a lot of useful information and skills learned in university through an engineering degree program.<p>Is going to University to get an engineering degree worth pursuing at this point?<p>Given that I wish to pursue my own ideas and designs, what degree program would you recommend?
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JSeymourATL
> Given that I wish to pursue my own ideas and designs...

Then pursue your own ideas & designs. Next find a buyer. Figure out a way to
get to market.

Tangential story-- how James Dyson did it.
>[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/955045.Against_the_Odds](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/955045.Against_the_Odds)

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Pmcneeley
I would say my worry would be pursuing a product where investors or customers
would expect a highly educated engineer vs say DIY type maker. Thanks for the
advise and link, I did not know Dyson's story.

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JSeymourATL
> investors or customers would expect a highly educated engineer ...

This is a WHO problem, straight forward to solve.

Find an esteemed, respected, pedigreed individual with a significant
background in this space to serve your start-up in an advisory or consulting
capacity.

Imagine someone on staff @ Cambridge > [https://www-
edc.eng.cam.ac.uk/people/academics.html](https://www-
edc.eng.cam.ac.uk/people/academics.html)

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kaushikt
Industrial design is an exciting field. If you are not interested in starting
your own company again then I think a degree would be great for future
prospects.

I don't know which degree or which college though.

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Pmcneeley
Perfect I will look into Industrial design, thank you.

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dyeje
What do you want to do instead of what you're doing now and how does getting a
degree help you do it? Wasn't clear to me from the post.

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Pmcneeley
Would spending the time and money in say getting a mechatronics degree, in
hopes of being more legitimate in the startup world, be worth the ROI? Or is
it legitimate enough to just be a tinkerer plugging away at projects/products
and learning from text books at home, in reference to the startup world.

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dyeje
I don't think the degree will be worth it. I'd say keep plugging away. I doubt
you will find a better situation to do so than your current one if you're
getting 2 weeks off at a time.

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hindsightbias
Maybe consider an MBA in industrial design or manufacturing. Depends on if you
want to run/scale a tech business or fiddle with laser sinters.

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Pmcneeley
Thanks for the reply, I would prefer doing both, but definitely have a
stronger interest in creating a niche business again.

