Engineering disciplines in order of DIY hackability from most to least, based on non-knowledge inputs
Software
Kitchen chemical (baking soda class)
Electrical (non-electronic)
Mechanical
Electronic
Civil
Aerospace (hobby drone grade)
Chemical (non-kitchen)
Material science
Conversation
Chemical is the one with the sharpest divide between what you can do at home versus industrial grade. You hit the limits of baking soda and vinegar pretty quickly.
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Mechanical is interesting because there’s usually a crappy home version of everything. Like hand metal filing/hacksaws for machine tools.
The only thing you really can’t do at home is heat treatment.
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Material science is unbelievably inaccessible. You’re restricted to scavenging.
Electronics is weird. The inputs are very specialized, but also cheap, safe, and unrestricted enough to buy at consumer budget levels. It’s easier to get diodes than sulphuric acid.
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Aerospace has become suddenly usefully consumer-grade in the last decade. Yay for lithium-ion power densities.
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Engineering education hack: the more mediocre you think you are, the better it is for you to go into a high capex discipline. Not only are there natural barriers to entry keeping teen geniuses out, there is way more arbitrary detail to master, and less use for prodigal talents
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In software you can go from number theory prodigy to cryptography startup before you hit puberty. In nuclear engineering, you’re lucky if you get certified as a knight of standards and practices and get anywhere near fissile material before age 30
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I had 1 semester of nuclear engineering as part of energy track of ME... all textbook theory and calculations. Didn’t even get to point a Geiger counter at a lab sample.

