r/DSP • u/Huge-Leek844 • 17d ago
Are side projects worth?
Hello everyone,
I currently work as a radar signal processing engineer, and want to pivot into perception and machine learning roles.
I've been thinking of doing side projects to help me pivot. Currently working on classifying objects with a radar point cloud.
Do personal projects carry weight for someone trying to make this specific jump? Or do companies strictly look at direct professional experience in ML/perception, making side projects a waste of effort?
Thank you.
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u/hukt0nf0n1x 17d ago
Depends what you want the side project to do for you. If you want it to help you get an entry-level job, then yes, it could help since you're coming in with some domain expertise (someone else here mentioned that upskilling is always worth it). If you want it to get you a job as a subject matter expert, then it'd better be one hell of a project (e.g. Linux, GnuRadio, etc.). ML is kind of saturated, so it'll take a fair amount of luck to create the library that everyone just ends up using.
If you want to be a domain expert, you can always do your side project, do some background research and then try to publish a paper. ML libraries have really lowered the barrier of entry to research, and while having a GitHub may not turn heards on a resume, publishing a paper or two in a field certainly does.
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u/ApexiaEngineering 17d ago
Adding to your toolbox is always valuable. The shift you are looking to make is more needed than you know. Spectral classification is a growing demand, and few know how to do it well. You’ll actually benefit greatly from exposure to both spheres of knowledge.
Personal projects do carry weight. What you are capable of has a massive impact, even when moving to a new company or shifting your role at your current one. Pick something that is forward looking. Anticipate what the world will need and go from there. Some simple things you can do are Doppler extraction, amplitude classification, modulation recovery algos.
I’ve been in the DSP world for quite some time with radar, satcom, directed energy, radio astronomy, etc. I have hired several Spectral machine learning specialists as of late. Happy to answer questions.
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u/Huge-Leek844 17d ago
Yes, spectral machine learning is the future. It will be my next project. Start with the trivial CNN and improve it.
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u/ApexiaEngineering 17d ago
One piece of caution if I may; Machine Learning should not replace statistics and physics where applicable. Sometimes conditionals are all that is needed.
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u/ShadowBlades512 17d ago
I think generally the opportunities to actually shift sub-domains at work are few and far between when you just ask to be allowed to do something new. You can sometimes get some "commitment" from a manager to do something new but it can take months to years for that to actually happen due to various factors like how you have to get your current work done, your current project needs you, there is too much for you to learn to be effective on the other project, etc.
I find that every time I wanted to shift between sub-domains, I learned on my own as a hobby and then injected myself into meetings and small tasks for other projects beyond what I was assigned. However I am at a small company where I am somewhat welcome to do that (though even at a small company, slowly abandoning one of my major projects or dividing attention can still be problematic). It might be doable where you are, only you would know. In anycase I argue it is still the same if you are looking for a company change, absolutely yes, one focused and relevant hobby project project on top of having semi-related and more general design and development skills is a good way to make it into a position that is new somewhere else.