4 ms·

What sort of tech work specifically? What languages are used?

stonogo 8y ago
The answers to your questions are basically "all of it" and "whatever makes the system work." The Department of Energy is pouring millions into 'smart grid' R&D, which includes everything from good old cybersecurity all the way up through nuclear power research, stopping at coal, diesel, steam, solar, and wind along the way.
- mmt 8y ago
  > pouring millions into 'smart grid' R&D Unfortunately, that essentially contradict's the GP's "isn't a research problem anymore" assertion. Similarly, millions, even tens of millions, isn't an impressive amount of money by VC-funded high-growth tech startup standards, so that also belies the notion that it's not just research any more.
  - diafygi 8y ago
    I feel like you're looking for a hole to poke. It seems pretty obvious that R&D funding is still good even when existing technologies are good-enough-to-deploy-in-mass. Ford got past the R&D stage for the Model-T a long time ago, but they continue to pour money into R&D to make better cars. The same happens for energy technology. We have clean energy systems that can compete with fossil fuels today, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't keep seeking new innovations that make them even better.
    - mmt 8y ago
      I wasn't suggesting that research can no longer exist, just that the OC's whole point was that this field is no longer about just research and attempting to open up the discussion to a broader interest group, of software engineers, based on that premise of mass scaling. Since the GP was a direct reply to the comment with that premise, asking about the kinds of work and technology, it seemed to me like a borderline-disingenuous to respond with something related to research and not mass scaling, especially since that response was "all of it".
diafygi 8y ago
Here's a comment on what specific software needs there are in distributed solar[1], and here's a comment on where to look around for interesting energy companies that may be hiring software engineers[2]. [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13250336 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13250336 [2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15127154 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15127154

The answers to your questions are basically "all of it" and "whatever makes the system work." The Department of Energy is pouring millions into 'smart grid' R&D, which includes everything from good old cybersecurity all the way up through nuclear power research, stopping at coal, diesel, steam, solar, and wind along the way.

mmt 8y ago
> pouring millions into 'smart grid' R&D Unfortunately, that essentially contradict's the GP's "isn't a research problem anymore" assertion. Similarly, millions, even tens of millions, isn't an impressive amount of money by VC-funded high-growth tech startup standards, so that also belies the notion that it's not just research any more.
- diafygi 8y ago
  I feel like you're looking for a hole to poke. It seems pretty obvious that R&D funding is still good even when existing technologies are good-enough-to-deploy-in-mass. Ford got past the R&D stage for the Model-T a long time ago, but they continue to pour money into R&D to make better cars. The same happens for energy technology. We have clean energy systems that can compete with fossil fuels today, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't keep seeking new innovations that make them even better.
  - mmt 8y ago
    I wasn't suggesting that research can no longer exist, just that the OC's whole point was that this field is no longer about just research and attempting to open up the discussion to a broader interest group, of software engineers, based on that premise of mass scaling. Since the GP was a direct reply to the comment with that premise, asking about the kinds of work and technology, it seemed to me like a borderline-disingenuous to respond with something related to research and not mass scaling, especially since that response was "all of it".

diafygi 8y ago

Here's a comment on what specific software needs there are in distributed solar[1], and here's a comment on where to look around for interesting energy companies that may be hiring software engineers[2]. [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13250336 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13250336 [2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15127154 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15127154