Those of you who work in pressure vessel design, what other fields could you switch to?
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I have been working in dry pressure vessel design for six or seven years, and recently, due to some changes, I am at risk of being laid off by my company. Pressure vessel manufacturing plants are mainly concentrated in Suzhou, Wuxi, and Changzhou; in our small area, there is only one such plant. It would be difficult to find a seamless connection with them, and I really don’t want to leave home. I wonder what those of us who work in pressure vessel design can do to change careers? Let me first talk about the industries related to the two points I am aware of. One is mechanical design; after all, pressure vessels are also considered chemical engineering machinery. But I made a few calls, and as soon as people heard that it was about pressure vessel design, they shook their heads; or they shook their heads as soon as they heard the name of our company. Another area is the management of equipment in chemical plants. Although I haven’t studied management, I have designed many pressure vessels and been exposed to various types of them, so I have some relevant experience; it’s not as if I’m starting from scratch. Speaking of my own feelings, when it comes to starting a new line in the text, professional experience isn’t as useful as specific skills; things like English, stress analysis, or 3D software are important. As for standards, calculations, or structural design, no one cares about them – even if you explain them, others won’t understand.
Having multiple skills means more options for career advancement; English, stress analysis, and 3D modeling all seem to be priority requirements
One can work in area such as system management, quality management, procurement, sales, etc. There are many advantages to designers changing careers; it’s important to recognize one’s own strengths.
This post was last edited by letitbe on 2017-7-20 at 10:13. 1. When it comes to pressure vessels, don’t think in terms of mechanics alone; it’s not just a matter of 3D software. 2. Equipment management is not impossible, but if you want to get promoted, it’s better to have an understanding of the manufacturing process. 3. In most companies, only whether one can use ANSYS software matters for stress analysis; no one cares whether the meshing is done properly, whether the boundary conditions are set correctly, or whether the results are reasonable – as long as there are colorful graphs, that’s enough
It’s impossible to change jobs; no one has agreed to let me take on a role related to production processes. Now the question is how to switch careers
Yes, pressure vessels are truly an anomaly among mechanical devices – the only category for which it’s necessary to calculate the thickness of the vessel walls. From small precision instruments to large construction machinery, as well as automotive components, all seem to look down on pressure vessels. I never thought about this before; it even gave me a bump on my head
You don’t understand what I’m saying; I mean that 99% of people don’t understand mechanics when it comes to pressure vessels
Having worked in this technical field for so many years, your advantage when changing jobs is your professional expertise. I still recommend that you set aside geographical considerations and step outside to make full use of your strengths!
This post was last edited by wanlirn on 2017-7-20 at 14:26. It’s possible to switch to working in custom design; it takes a few months to learn things like PLCs and similar technologies. These days everything uses standard parts and components – you just need to know where to apply them; there’s no need to be skilled in calculations. There are standard part libraries available, and if you know how to use SolidWorks or UG to assemble components and create engineering drawings, that’s enough. I recently learned about gear reduction units: they allow you to control torque and speed, and they come as complete sets including motors, reducers, and controllers. You don’t need to calculate gear ratios or anything similar; you just install them on your equipment. This is what’s known as integration nowadays. Those who switch careers in my company end up working on custom equipment, such as dosing devices or vacuum welding systems, and they do well in those roles
Yes, I’m not familiar with mechanics. These past couple of days I’ve gone through the textbooks on Principles of Mechanics and Mechanical Design again; it seems that after graduating, I only used knowledge such as static equilibrium and basic strength, and I’ve forgotten most of the rest. Just as it’s difficult for those in the machinery field to imagine how pressure vessels should be designed, I also can’t figure out where to start with general mechanical design