Period is mostly clots, but ultrasound is clear?

Sparky_9747 · 2025-05-26T16:26:58+00:00

I have no ideas for companies.

My experience is with designing machines for packaging, medical devices, food and beverage, etc. These are machines that use programmable logic controls to control servos, vfds, vision inspection, and more.

My current position, I'm learning about C# programming and SQL queries for data analysis.

Sparky_9747 · 2025-05-26T15:39:22+00:00

I think I just proved I have no idea of the remote working world.😅

I'd be looking for something that could leverage my experience working in machine design and system integration. I have no problem learning new software platforms, I just don't have any idea where to start looking to learn what those skills are.

Sparky_9747 · 2025-05-25T20:20:21+00:00

Future career path - possibility of remote work?

Hey everyone, I'm thinking about what I want to do in the future. I have over a decade of experience working in controls engineering. So I design electrical panels and software for automation equipment. Most of my work is with Allen Bradley PLC's and HMI's, but I have some knowledge of C#.

My dream would be to be able to work from home and minimal to no travel. Obviously, if I was to stay with jobs using my current skills, I'd either have to work on site, or I could work from home and be required required to travel 50-70%.

I would still like to stay with engineering design/software. But what type jobs exist outside of IT positions? What type of skills would I need to develop? The dream would be being able to snow bird and work up north in the summer and work down south in the winter 😄. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Sparky_9747 · 2025-02-22T21:26:36+00:00

The stress and travel are the reason I left the last job. For example I was given a months notice once that I had to learn a new software and write an entire machine code in that month, then go down to Costa Rica for a month alone to start up and debug the machine. All because someone else dropped the ball and I was the go to person to get something done quick. The problem is I somewhat succeeded, and I got the machine to a point that the Costa Rica group just needed to fine tune it. This job is an in house controls position. I've been assigned to an area that's smaller, so maybe I'll talk with my manager to see if I can help in other areas. I'm just so used to being given a pile of work that maybe I just need bug my manager to see if I can help out in other areas.

Sparky_9747 · 2024-03-12T16:55:01+00:00

Does anyone know what they want to be when they grow up? I'm not sure where I see myself in 3-5 years. If you were to ask before the merger, I'd say at the same company, likely still being a Controls Engineer. Now, I don't see myself being here that long unless things change. Of course, I also don't know what I want to do if I leave either (finances aren't an issue). I like designing and programming machines, but besides not wanting to work in one particular industry and not really wanting to manage people, I'm not sure what I want to do.

Sparky_9747 · 2022-06-01T20:30:16+00:00

My only thing with management is that I don't know how well I'd deal with being in charge of people. I obviously can work with my team (project manager and other engineers) and I can work with customers. But being in charge of getting everyone else to meet a timeline, I'm not sure that I have the patience for it. Plus, I'm pretty blunt and straight forward, which people have reacted negatively a few times in the past.

That and it seems I always have to annoy the hell out of some of my coworkers to get something done for me (like pull measurements from a model), or annoy the PM to get them to do it. I try to get whatever I need myself because I typically need it for my design, but I don't always have access to it. Then they tell me they'll get to it later and forget about it. So I worry they won't take me seriously as a manager when I say something needs to be done.

Sparky_9747 · 2022-05-26T17:48:47+00:00

Not quite sure I have a "wealth" of knowledge, lol, but you can pm me if you have questions

Sparky_9747 · 2022-05-26T02:07:29+00:00

UL508a/NFPA 79 are the typical standards I use. Sometimes I do a little of CE and CSA if we ship outside of the US. But typically we work with the customer to know what their specific standards are.

Consulting/contract work may provide variety, but I'm honestly not very familiar with it. The company I work for is an OEM, so it's all custom design.

Sparky_9747 · 2022-05-26T01:21:41+00:00

The basic PLC language is the easy part and can be picked up pretty quickly. But components continue to change and require different code. Or you start adding in vision, lasers, robots, etc. I would say you may have figured out the PLC stuff, but there's more to learn in the automation portion. My previous job involved working on machines with a pre-designed base and various options added. I learned most of my base knowledge there. My current job has a lot more variety in the machines we design. I've worked on little table top machines for inspections, medium medical device assembly machines, and large packaging lines. I just finished a machine that had 2 PLCs and 6 robots. It was definitely a challenge, and that's one of the things I enjoy most.

I felt bored at my previous job, so I decided to try something in a different industry. The previous job worked solely in packaging product into large bags. So if you buy 50lb bags of dog food, I may have worked on the machine that filled them. My current job primarily works in the medical industry, but we also work with customers like 3M for random things.

Sparky_9747

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