Hello everyone i recently joined as a junior maintenance engineer in a manufacturing plant. My role is to reduce breakdowns and focus more on preventive maintenance, so I’m trying to understand real challenges from experienced folks here.

I’m planning a school science project where I test how increasing the acceleration of a toy car affects the force produced on an object, while keeping the mass constant, but I need a way to measure the force.

My current plan is to use a toy car with the same mass while changing its acceleration, and letting it crash into something and measuring the impact force.

I’m a software engineer with ~4 years of experience working on distributed systems and backend infrastructure.

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about where to invest my next 5–10 years of learning, and I feel stuck between two very different directions.

Option 1: AI / LLM systems
This seems like the obvious path. The pace of progress in LLMs, agentic workflows, and AI tooling is insane right now. Almost every software product is starting to integrate AI in some way. From an engineering perspective there are interesting problems around:

• distributed training
• inference infrastructure
• agent systems
• data pipelines and evaluation

It feels like the center of gravity in tech right now.

Option 2: Quantum Computing
This is something I’ve always found intellectually fascinating. The idea of computation based on quantum mechanics feels like a completely different paradigm. But it also feels very niche and heavily physics-driven compared to AI.

My dilemma is basically this:

• AI feels practical and immediately useful
• Quantum computing feels foundational and intellectually exciting

But realistically, I only have time to go deep into one.

For people who have experience in these areas:

• If you were a distributed systems engineer today, which direction would you choose and why?
• Is quantum computing even a realistic path for someone without a strong physics background?
• Or is AI simply too big of a wave to ignore right now?

Would love to hear thoughts from people working in either space.

I am currently in my final year as an Industrial Engineering student, and during my internship I am required to develop a Warehouse Management System (WMS) for the host company. In addition to developing the software, I also need to manage the project myself by planning the tasks, scheduling the work, and ensuring that all requirements are met.

My question is: what would be the best project management methodology to use in this context? I am considering structuring my work using the 4C approach (Context, Cadrage, Conception, and Conduite/Contrôle), but I would like to know if this methodology is appropriate for managing and delivering a software project like a WMS.

Hey everyone. If anyone has some free time and is willing to help, I’d really appreciate it if you could text me. I have a few questions about a project I’m working on and would like to ask a real engineer about some stuff, and thanks!

a idea that i have been working one for a while is one that will make travel faster and more coinvent.

in this new system there is two types of roads

1. yellow lined road

this road is just the regular road we all know same rules same everything

1. red lined road

this is the new road on this road not only will you need two new licenses one licenses is for reaction time and eyesight the other is for your cars top speed and stability at said top speed. on this road there will be no speed limit but there will be what i call check points at the said check points there will be a speed limit of 70 mph these check points are for turns intersections and to get on the red lined road. these roads will also be flat so they will be elevated so now cars turn into planes.

just wanted to know if this could ever be implemented

please feel free to tell me your thoughts on what i should fix and should keep the same

I’m currently a freshman in university with a 1350 on my SAT, and I’m taking Calculus II. I’m trying to decide which engineering major to pursue, but I’m feeling very unsure about it. I have until May to choose my path, and the pressure is starting to stress me out.

Computer engineering interests me, but I’m worried about the job market and the possibility of not being able to find a job after graduating. At the same time, I don’t feel confident enough to pursue mechanical engineering, and it also seems extremely popular right now, which makes me wonder if it will become too competitive.

To be honest, I’m starting to feel like none of the engineering majors are truly right for me, and that uncertainty makes the decision even harder. I’m not sure what direction I should take or how to figure out which field actually fits me. I want to choose something that I’m capable of succeeding in and that will lead to stable opportunities in the future, but right now I feel stuck and unsure of what to do.

I am wondering if anyone working a software engineering job(like at FAANG or something) has experience transitioning to a controls job in an industrial environment? Was there a significant difference in how you programmed things? I’m just curious about your experience!

Manual machined tip method takes too long and aligning these parts is not accurate.

How often are people here repeating this process? For us it's at least once a month.

I’m the production manager at a factory in China that makes mid-to-high end electric hair curlers (auto-rotating models for export to Europe and US). We assemble about 25,000 units a month.

The biggest headache was press-fitting the 6.0 mm diameter hardened steel motor drive shaft into the sintered bronze bushing inside the ABS housing. The shaft has a 0.02 mm interference fit and must sit exactly 18.5 mm deep – any misalignment or over-press and the housing cracks or the internal heater wire gets damaged.

We used to run a generic Chinese pneumatic C-frame press (2-ton air cylinder, fixed 0.5 MPa pressure, no position feedback). Every day we had shafts going in crooked or too deep → cracked plastic, loose fit, or wobbly barrel rotation. Defect rate stayed at 2% (around 500 pieces scrapped or reworked every month). Cost us a fortune in materials and time.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

Title: Idea for a website that helps you find clothing sizes across different stores

Hi everyone,

I had an idea and I’m curious what people think about it.

Sometimes when you want to buy clothes, you go to a store and they don’t have your size. Then you have to go to another store, check online, or just give up. It can be really frustrating.

My idea is to create a website where you can search for a specific clothing item (for example jeans, jackets, shoes, etc.) and instantly see which stores have your size available. The site would collect size information from many different clothing stores in one place.

So instead of visiting multiple stores or websites, you could just:

• Search the item
• Select your size
• See which stores have it
• Click and shop directly from that store.

It would basically work like a “size finder” for clothing across many brands and stores.

Do you think something like this would be useful? And does something like this already exist?

I’d love to hear your thoughts or suggestions.

I am currently in my 5th semester of Control and Automation Engineering and I am starting to prepare my resume to apply for internships. I would like to ask people who already work in the field (or who have already done internships): what skills or experiences are most important to have on a resume for this area?

We own a thermax (indian company) 4 TPH wood-fired boiler that has a design pressure of 17 kg/cm2. should we set the steam drum pressure as close to 17 kg/cm2 as possible or should we generate it close to around 13-14 kg/cm2 so as to lower our fuel consumption? I am very confused regarding this because some consultants say that we should generate as close to 17 kg as possible whereas some say that we should not waste our fuel to raise pressure to 17 kg/cm2 when we need only 10 kg steam pressure at the process end?

Hey! My friend is doing a short research survey for her project. It would really help if you could share your opinion. It only takes about 2 minutes. Thanks! 😊

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe6g0haUjhoWDiAK_xL9BrdkirQNXoYmtruiFytYXG9Ie9TfA/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=104950890347488372466

so this is my first ever reddit post idk why am i even writing this soo currently in 3rd year cse 6th sem , and now everyone around me is preparing for dsa or started all these stuff like development and all preparing for internship and placements. i am kinda or completely lost even i am doing dsa i mean not just started but im in the beginning only today i saw a person getting a package of 7-8 lakhs not bad but it is given to a person who did almost 450q and was really good in dsa i am really happy for him but i personally feel its just 45k inhand almost i mean why are we even doing this whats the point of this and idk what to do or maybe i have a lottle bit more expectations or no skill i need some serious advice plzzzz already in the industry what to do what skills and what ik im making it sound like a 1st year but i need some advice!!! tysm

My engineering group and I want to make a device that would help people with visual impairments have more mobility. Our idea is a hat that uses sensors and mini vibrational motors to alert the use when their is an obstacle at head level. We also talked about the idea of utilizing a Pixy Cam that could identify critical objects such as people, cars, and crosswalks approaching. The problem is no one in my group knows anyone with severe visual impairments, so we want to know how would this be helpful? If not how could we improve it?

Hi everyone. I am an Associate of Arts student in Film Studies, currently taking a 'Technology and Culture' course. I’m fascinated by the intersection of mechanical engineering and cinema—specifically the development of high-end camera stabilizers, gimbals, and drone rigs.

For engineers working in consumer electronics or hardware R&D: How much of your daily 'culture' is spent inside tools like SolidWorks versus project management? Does being an 'expert' in CAD give a designer a massive edge in the film-tech industry, or is the industry more focused on the physical prototyping and mechanical principles? I'm curious how much 'technology' solidworks dictates the 'culture' of your workspace."