[jynxed]

I'm a high school senior, and for a project in my Computer Integrated Manufacturing class, i would like to ask a few questions:

What college courses do you recommend to be taken?

What types of jobs/careers can you have in the field of programmable machinery?

What are some estimated average salaries from those jobs?

What kind of machinery is used in those jobs?

Thank you in advance!

[turmite]

jynxed I give you this advise from experience. Not because I have the experience but because I don't. Take anything math, computer scienceand business!!! Trust me, I have a need for all of them and just feel too old to go get it. If you are interested in anything 3d take some sort of class for that too.
Mike

[Ken_Shea]

Turmite just gave you great advice, math, math and more math and then you can call the shots.

Ken

[Mariss Freimanis]

Jinxed,

Learn what you love and follow it. Know your talent, your life's work must be something that uses it and absorbs you. It will make all the difference for the next 40 years of your life.

Your work should be something you would do even if you were not paid for it. That is what lets you know you have made the right choice.

Don't make your choice on what something will pay; many people I know have made that mistake. Their profession is a burden their entire lives because they had no love for it. They got in it for the money; it wasn't enough for what they ultimately paid in return.

Your work should be what you love; if it is, you will get up every morning for the next 40 years looking forward to what you will do that day. I know because that's what I do.

Turmite is right. If you are good (or even just tolerable) at math, take a lot of it. Don't worry if it seems disconnected or unrelated to what you are after; it WILL all gel years later. You will have it when you need it, just like a good set of tools.

I assume this is an interest of yours because you posted here. It also means you are resourceful, and being resourceful you probably are ambitious as well. Take a business minor no matter how boring. It will give you the skills to setup your business one day and it will be a marketable "extra" for an employer until you do.

That is pretty much the secret of a happy life. I practice what I preach. I run and own a reasonably succesful company. I do get up most every morning looking forward with enthusiasm what the day will bring. All in all, it doesn't get any better than that.

Mariss

[HuFlungDung]

Gosh, Mariss, them's real purdy words. I agree with you whole-heartedly.

[dherbman]

yep, math is #1. Geometry and trig are extremly helpful. I've had no formal training and have had to pick the math up the hard way. It's easy to let a program do all the math for you, but it's invaluable to understand what is going on in the program.

As far as jobs, there is a multitude of CNC machines as well as industries in which they are used. Aerospace, electronics, fabrication, machining just to name a few. Hey, I was at my dentist and he's got 3D software that models a tooth and then send it to a mini mill that creates a perfect tooth for implant. CNC is everywhere.
Positions can be in management ($50K+), operation(depending on machine, industry, location and experience, wages can be $20K-$70K.) Programmer(again depends on MILE, but usually starts around $20K). I've been in CNC since the early 80's and have worked in PCB industry and now sheet metal fabrication. I'm at the same company for ten years and am responsible for programming a laser and two punch presses in addition to other responsibilities like design and QA. I'm close to 50K now and live in the impovershed state of Oregon.

Machines: Routers, drills, mills, lasers, turrett punches, press brakes, welding robots and probably 10,000 others.

Good luck with it. It's a sometimes frustrating, often tedious, often challenging and always mathematical way to go.

[inthedark]

Math is a world wide language. Wish I would have paid more attention...

My favorite quote:

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

Calvin Coolidge 13th Pres. of the U.S.

[Klox]

Mariss, Hu, Turmite, Ken, Inthedark & Dherbman you all smacked the nail right on the head!!!

I took all the classes needed to become an artisan but took no classes regarding bussiness management. I must say the learning curve was about vertical LOL! a lot of guys took me for a ride and i lost out on thousands of bucks!


Klox

[turmite]

Mariss speaks from experience on one side, I speak on the other.

I run a non profit business and I promise you it was not intended to be that way. Also as Klox said I have been taken for a couple of hundred thousand dollars because I didn't know how to play the game and I was way too trusting.

My next step in my business is to get a cash dribble going! It's got to dribble before it can flow!!

Mike

[Klox]

Mike,
.....the power of positive thinking! I hope that dribble will become a FLOOD! LOL!

Klox

[Gunner]

Jynxed,

I started my machining career in the late 70's. I've been involved with CNC machines since the early 80's. I've basically run the gambit from manuals to CNC's to Programming and now management. I agree with the information you have received from all above. Math is #1, all you can get. When I interview for a position or review a resume I look for schooling background. I believe that people with strong mathematical skills are better problem solvers. They have learned through their schooling to take a more structured approach handling most situations. They use "knowns" to determine "unknowns". The business courses are also a very good idea because you don't know how far you are going to go in a career. Being prepared for the "next step" is a good thing. Knowledge is a strong bargaining tool and it's something no one can ever take away from you!

Gunner

[RODMAN]

jynxed,

You have good people giving you good advice. I can only add one thing. Find something that you LOVE to do and become the best you can at it. This makes all the work that it will take seem like play and easier to do.

RODMAN

[Hobbiest]

I just got a job in a fabrication shop. I have been building hot rods since I was 17, 7 years ago. It is so much fun! Its like screwing off in my garage, but I get paid for it, and the tools are bigger! Definately find something that you love to do, and turn your passion into obsession, and ultimately, money!

[sbrpollock]

Mariss, Tumite, Hu.......

You guys are all right on the money! Do what you love and love what you do. I have figured out after many years that the whole point is to be HAPPY not rich. I spent many years pursuing money and was miserable. When I finally started pursuing HAPPINESS guess what: I found it!

I can speak a little about colledge, engineering, and math. I am an Electrician by trade and worked most of my enjoyable working career as a Motor Control and Drive Technician in industrial settings. I absolutly, positively love what I do! I get to work on machinery with horspower ratings in the thousands. (Think about a thousand horsepower servo !)

Right now the steel industry in NorthWest Indiana is kinda slow. And good work is hard to find. So I'm taking the opportunity to get an Engineering degree. I am writting this from a lab at Purdue University.

Being forty years old and going to school full time is the best and most fun thing I have ever done. I can tell you that no matter what specialty you go into, Math is one of the top, if not THE top priority.

I have taken a job as sort of an instructor working specifically with those student that have difficulty.

MATH! MATH! MATH!

I help student from Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Architectural Engineering, Civil Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Chemistry, Management, and this list goes on and on.

No matter what a person majors in in this place (and I think Purdue is a pretty good example of a good school) they ALL have to learn the math. Granted We have slightly different math classes for different fields, but the differences are only slight.

Now for the best part:

You only have to learn it once! Once you have mastered the math, it gets easier to master the other disciplines. In other words:

An ELECTRICAL engineering student with a SOLID foundation in math can pretty easily understand some of the basic MECHANICAL engineering classes.

Whereas:

Even a MECHANICAL engineering student with a poor foundation in math will struggle with these same basic MECHANICAL engineering classes.

The Math is universal!

[syketallon]

Love what you do. I love my job. and all i do right now is run a machine. long hours but boy i love it.(I run a amada punch press) and im in the learning stage with what im doing
love to learn becouse thats the best part learning a new trick. it's like opening a package
at xmas.
Good Luck
(and have fun with it)
Rich

[Evodyne]

Jynxed,

Hi! I have worked in the industrial automation field for many years. The neat part about it is that it is diverse and becoming more so. One area that falls under programmable machinery is, of course, CNC tools. The programming is one aspect of a larger career as a machinist.

Another area (where I've done most of my work) is process/machine control. Here you are primarily dealing with Programmable Logic Controllers or PLCs for short. Think ultra rugged computers with ton of I/O options that can be hooked up to a variety of actuators and sensors. In traditional PLCs a special (and simple) programming "language", if that is the right term, is ladder logic. You program visually in symbols. PLCs are the conerstone of present-day industrial control. With the same control hardware I've done everything from batch-fermentation control in the drug manufacturing field to control of balers and shears in scrap yards. Every chemical plant, steel mill, factory, and even theme park uses PLCs. You want to be on the design side, not the maintenance side. Some companies make all of their money implementing PLC control systems for clients-you would be talking about working for a "system integrator" in this case. Strangely, you see very little PLC training in traditional colleges (which may have changed-it's been a while since I've been there). Many vocational schools offer courses though.

Machine builders take the system integrator concept one step further and build the machines that make things. In the process of doing so they automate the machines as they build them. Very divers. Some build entire assembly lines for entities such as GM and Ford. I worked at one for a bit that was building a cookie packaging machin for Nabisco in one lane and a tampon maker in the next. Now that's diversity.

There is a "big brother" to the PLC called the Distributed Control System or DCS. In a factory setting a DCS system might control the entire plant-including individual PLCs that handle dedicated processes. Training for these is hard to come by-and the DCS guys are in great demand accordingly. Usually you will get into the engineering department of a company and they will send you for specific training.

An area related to both PLC and DCS is motion control. It stands to reason as most things we want to control involve moving things. It has become an area of expertise all to itself. Typically we are talking about servo systems and variable speed drives. Most of the PLC vendors have motion control offerings as well.

The ultimate in motion control is robotics, a very popular field nowadays. Again, I've seen vocational schools offer basic courses. I've also seen companies hire in untrained newbies and send them off for specific factory training.

You might really want to explore a co-op program with a system integrator or machine builder. Go to scholl part time, work part time. But while your working your getting a second education too!

Aside from anything I've said I think that the post from Mariss might be the one you need to pay attention to. You MUST do something you enjoy! That really needs to be the focus, mcuh more so than the money. When your young money seems to be the answer to achieving happiness, but it isn't. I can tell you you will blink your eyes and be forty yourself. I'm fourty three (and living in Northwest Indiana - hi sbrpollock) and am surrounded by people with tons of money that are perfectly miserable. I fell into the trap myself years back and got so stessed I needed to get my stomach taken out due to ulcers. Was it worth it for a little extra money each month? No way! I now make less than half what I did back then (by choice) and am extremely content.

Well, sorry for such a long post. Check with your local vocational schools (you can still take classes there and go to college) and study an engineering curriculum. Think about a co-op program too. Good luck!

Evodyne

[Kevin Taylor]

Big amen to the math wish I had taken more and stayed awake more in what I did take as for the love no mater how much you love it there are always a few people who you work for you will have to love to hate!!!! After more than twentyfive years of this I still love the work I just hate a few of the customer's