Entry #4 - Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto

    When I was young, I had a great love for science fiction. I grew up on all of the classics: Terminator, Star Wars, Back to the Future, Aliens and the list goes on. I loved them all. The idea of futuristic technology captured my imagination and helped shape my interests permanently. One element contained in many of these stories always fascinated me the most. Robots. Nothing drew my attention more than seeing these awesome machines. Whether it was Transformers or Johnny 5, I loved them all.

    And so for my second career overview, I will be taking a look at Robotics Engineering. This career field is somewhat self explanatory on the surface, but the amount of disciplines that go into creating these machines can be truly staggering. A deep understanding of physics, engineering principles and electronics are all needed to adequately research, design and develop useful robotics. Programming and software engineering is needed to control them. Finally, one must understand what purpose the robot will serve, which could require researching and understanding industries you won’t even directly work in 

    The prospects for this industry look to be about average nationwide, about 3%-5% projected growth. However, some states have better outlooks. California, for example, has a projected 11% growth. The median pay for the US is a respectable $111k a year with a range all the way up to $177k for the top earners.

    Robotics, similar to the space industry, often manages to capture the public’s attention with its promises of amazing technological advancements. Many of which don’t quite come to fruition, but that doesn’t stop the average person from dreaming of a day when they see humanoid robots in our everyday lives. A future that seems more and more possible. And I am certainly not immune to this romanticism. My cynicism often clashes directly with my hope of a future where hard labor in our society is done only by specialized machines, and without the cost of a standard of living for the average person.     I think it's safe to that this would be my dream job. But for now I will continue to keep my options open and flexible. What about you, reader?