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> As for my goals, it is to work in high-performance computing, in particular with aerospace. My example: adaptive resolution grids for fluid simulations. If t

by Mr_P 9y ago

> As for my goals, it is to work in high-performance computing, in particular with aerospace. My example: adaptive resolution grids for fluid simulations. If this is what you really want, then just do it! Research whatever you need to implement a fluid simulation program, stick it up on github and put it on your resume. Doing so accomplishes several major things 1) it makes it extraordinarily clear to employers that you can actually do the work that you want to do 2) it makes it clear that you can teach yourself to learn whatever else you might need to know to do the job 3) it demonstrates the kind of self-motivation that "reputable tech companies" look for Alternatively, find a Coursera course on something you're interested in and just do it. You won't get much more out of college than you can from free online courses.

matt_j 9y ago
The Coursera recommendation is spot on. MIT Open Courseware would be worth looking into as well. Studying a few mathematics and programming courses would put OP in a much better position to determine the next steps. I finished a comp sci degree with a major in computational mathematics and I don't feel like I could accomplish very much with my bachelor level skillset in an industrial context. I didn't learn enough mathematics in 1-2 years to be a good applied mathematician. I wish I did a mathematics degree in hindsight!
ianai 9y ago
I second this so long as s/he’s willing to invest the time to learn any required math. I’m thinking a self learner needs to signal some deeper understanding somewhere. Software really does lend itself to self learners though.
slavik81 9y ago
My recommendation for self-study would be to borrow or purchase a copy of "Fluid Simulation for Computer Graphics" by Robert Bridson. It is by far the most approachable resource on eularian fluid simulation that I have found. I would warn, however, that it took me a nearly a month to build my fluid simulator[1] after reading. I didn't have any good reference implementations to follow when I built it, and there's a lot of little details to get right. My code still has an annoying bug that appears when building with optimizations on Haswell or later, and I need to clean up the code a little, but it should nevertheless be useful as a reference for the features it implements. That said, being at a university really does help. There you're surrounded by other people who understand the linear algebra and vector calculus concepts you're working with... or, at least, in grad school you are. Having people you can talk with makes quite a difference when you're confused or unsure about something. It also makes this sort of study feel... normal. He's also not going to achieve his goal without years of heavy study. Doing this in his off-hours may be fun and rewarding, but I think he's unlikely to successfully reach the point that he's impressing aerospace R&D. Of course, I'm not sure an undergraduate degree in CS is really going to do it, either. A graduate degree maybe, but I'm not sure it would be easy to skip undergrad. If not, an undergrad degree in physics or mathematics might be a better complement to his existing experience. Others have pointed out that the opportunity cost for going back to school is tremendous. They're right. For a basic estimate of the cost, he can multiply his current earnings by at least four. It's probably enough to buy a house, but that's what dreams cost. Is it worth it? Well, financially no. The satisfaction from achieving that dream might be, though. That's up to him. [1]: https://github.com/cgmb/euler/blob/master/README.md https://github.com/cgmb/euler/blob/master/README.md

by Mr_P 9y ago

matt_j 9y ago

The Coursera recommendation is spot on. MIT Open Courseware would be worth looking into as well. Studying a few mathematics and programming courses would put OP in a much better position to determine the next steps. I finished a comp sci degree with a major in computational mathematics and I don't feel like I could accomplish very much with my bachelor level skillset in an industrial context. I didn't learn enough mathematics in 1-2 years to be a good applied mathematician. I wish I did a mathematics degree in hindsight!

ianai 9y ago

I second this so long as s/he’s willing to invest the time to learn any required math. I’m thinking a self learner needs to signal some deeper understanding somewhere. Software really does lend itself to self learners though.

slavik81 9y ago

My recommendation for self-study would be to borrow or purchase a copy of "Fluid Simulation for Computer Graphics" by Robert Bridson. It is by far the most approachable resource on eularian fluid simulation that I have found. I would warn, however, that it took me a nearly a month to build my fluid simulator[1] after reading. I didn't have any good reference implementations to follow when I built it, and there's a lot of little details to get right. My code still has an annoying bug that appears when building with optimizations on Haswell or later, and I need to clean up the code a little, but it should nevertheless be useful as a reference for the features it implements. That said, being at a university really does help. There you're surrounded by other people who understand the linear algebra and vector calculus concepts you're working with... or, at least, in grad school you are. Having people you can talk with makes quite a difference when you're confused or unsure about something. It also makes this sort of study feel... normal. He's also not going to achieve his goal without years of heavy study. Doing this in his off-hours may be fun and rewarding, but I think he's unlikely to successfully reach the point that he's impressing aerospace R&D. Of course, I'm not sure an undergraduate degree in CS is really going to do it, either. A graduate degree maybe, but I'm not sure it would be easy to skip undergrad. If not, an undergrad degree in physics or mathematics might be a better complement to his existing experience. Others have pointed out that the opportunity cost for going back to school is tremendous. They're right. For a basic estimate of the cost, he can multiply his current earnings by at least four. It's probably enough to buy a house, but that's what dreams cost. Is it worth it? Well, financially no. The satisfaction from achieving that dream might be, though. That's up to him. [1]: https://github.com/cgmb/euler/blob/master/README.md https://github.com/cgmb/euler/blob/master/README.md