Nice to Meet You
Hello everybody out there. If you find yourself reading this, it’s not too late to turn back. If you proceed onwards, you’ve been warned. Prepare to step into the life of a painfully average student in Oregon State’s postbacc CS program and early career professional in the aerospace industry.
With this first post, I wanted to set the background to my life thus far and improve my neglected writing skills past a middle school level. I do not feel as though I have an expert-level knowledge on anything worth reading about, so I thought I would speak to what I know – my experiences with software in the aerospace industry and the applications of modern software practices in the field – the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Professional Background
Here’s a quick synopsis of my background so you can pretend to know me on a personal level:
- I graduated in 2018 from UA with a BS in Aerospace Engineering
- During undergraduate years, I off-and-on worked for Airbus Helicopters
- I attempted law school toying with the idea of being a patent attorney like my brother, dropped out because I hated it
- I’ve since worked at Boeing in 3 different software roles on different programs – currently working on satellite simulations
- While working, I finished a MS in Systems Engineering from MS&T
- I’m currently pursuing a postbacc BS CS from OSU, and a MS CS from Georgia tech – hoping to finish OSU this quarter
- I would like to move into Product Management if anybody wants to hand me the keys to their kingdom
Personal Background
“Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me.” – Michael Scott
While I do not find my personal life interesting enough to really talk about, here is my highlight reel:
- I have a 3 year-old Golden Retriever, Daisy, who I take to dog parks everyday. Here’s a picture of her in her prime because I know you’re really interested to meet her.
- I picked up swimming 5-6 times/week and haven’t looked back
- I live in Colorado and thoroughly enjoy seeing all the natural terrain and nice weather. Here’s a view from my doorstep.
- I read ~52 books/year and am working on my own novel that I’m too embarrassed to share with anybody at this point
- I get all my statistics knowledge from my 4 fantasy football leagues
- I’m basic and enjoy finding new shows to watch and playing video games
Software Journey
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu
As I prepare to brainstorm ideas to talk about in subsequent blogs, I wanted to explain my motivations for pursuing an education in CS. I actually stumbled into my first software job with limited knowledge – I had an aerospace degree and it was a mixture of guidance, navigation, and control work that only needed basic CS knowledge like how to manipulate equations in C++, create basic Python scripts, and use Linux, Agile, and Git. While I could do my job fine with some patience from mentoring coworkers, I did not always understand how the stuff worked behind the scenes and it bothered the inner overachiever in me. Before this, I had always considered software another boring desk jockey career and really had no interest in the field but my desire to do my job better inspired me.
I had thought of pursuing a MS CS at this point only to feel let down when I realized I wouldn’t be accepted into a program (before I found Georgia Tech). I worked on a MS in Systems Engineering because it allowed me to take about 5 data science/ML courses as part of it. Looking back, it’s funny how little I knew about CS basics before diving straight into some of the more advanced aspects of CS – seeing as how most of it was rooted in understanding data manipulation and statistics I was able to do adequate in the courses but there were tremendous gaps in my knowledge. While continuing to work in software, I picked up the basics, built some confidence, and this motivated me to apply to Oregon State and Georgia Tech. Although there has been some late night, coffee-fueled sessions churning out homework, I am very happy with my decision to pursue this education and feel like it has been a game changer for my career prospects I wouldn’t have thought possible even 2-3 years ago. I now have opportunities where I can work for basically any aerospace company I would like. I think in part this is because there’s some niche roles that are hard to fill where aerospace and software knowledge is badly needed. The role I work in now is more of a legitimate developer role now where it’s focused on churning out as many features as fast as possible for satellite simulations and I love the growth I’ve experienced this far in my early career.
The Future is Now
I’m not sure what the future holds or if I will stay in the aerospace industry, but I have a strong desire to work on interesting problems. I want to bring new ideas to work and feel a certain level of fulfillment. The biggest downside to the aerospace industry is the relatively low pay compared to big tech but I enjoy the challenges presented by the technical work. It has been exciting unlocking the practical potential of CS and bringing it to work and independent projects. While I wouldn’t necessarily describe CS as my passion, I feel like it’s an extremely practical degree that is easy to branch out from into any industry really, and I only see the importance of knowing how computers/systems work growing in the future. If I ever feel like trying to start a side-hustle, I don’t have to worry about the initial overhead from contracting out basic software work like creating a website, and just understanding how software works allows me to evaluate the feasibility of startup/business ideas – this is a very freeing feeling to me. I’m still exploring what my best suited career path is, and in the meantime, I wanted to use these blogs as an opportunity to relate my experiences to how I see them tying into my career and growth.
