What kind of hardware are you looking to produce? If its fairly simple stuff with a single micro controller, a handful of sensors, and maybe a little I/O then I

What kind of hardware are you looking to produce? If its fairly simple stuff with a single micro controller, a handful of sensors, and maybe a little I/O then I'd point you towards Arduino. It might not the be most elegant solution for hardware, but it'll be a good stepping stone to get your feet wet and see if you want to really pursue it.