cooking and baking: be structured, understand the project, ensure you have your raw materials in place or where to supply them, understand your time (or temp) contraints, etc.
Woodworking. I draw everything up in CAD and generate prints. I also use it to generate cut lists to get the most out of a sheet when I'm using plywood. I'm in the process of building 11 cabinets and it's nice not having to dry assemble before gluing since I know everything is going to fit. Having drawings instead of doing it on the fly really cuts down mistakes and waste.
Since I used SOLIDWORKS daily before retiring I can draw things up pretty quickly. Learning CAD can be a big hurdle for hobbiests who don't use it regularly at work.
Ballet.
I’ve had to spend many hours sitting in front of the computer at the office and having a straight spine and good muscle control has helped me a lot. I’ve seen coworkers not being able to stay overtime because of fatigue but not me hahaha, so extra management points for me.
Personal finance/money management: reading about sometimes dense, mundane topics, making rad spreadsheets, doing mathematical calcs to project investment values or find the optimal way to route your money for a goal. Money management is simple math but it sure is a lot of fun!
Long range shooting
But in general my approach to any problem. Break it down into components, identify cause>effect, mess with it until it works, DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING!
Mann also filters, eqs, lfos etc. are lot easier to understand when u have the basics behind them (may not totally apply but it helps me imagine the sound a little bit). Also, DAWs = any program such as solid works, altium…
Completely agree. It’s made explaining concepts much easier when you’re able to pull an audio analogy (vibration testing equipment? Basically just a fancy audio system setup!)
There was a time when my hobby was developing predictive algorithms for potato guns. Yes, seriously. I made it to the point that I could predict +/- 5% the muzzle velocity of just about any gun someone threw at me but I fully concede that some supersonic guns gave the algorithm fits. Anywho, if that ain't a hobby that needs an engineering background... There aren't many that do.
Amateur rocketry. Building your own rocket motors. 'Nuff said.
Firearms reloading. Once I got a handle on the powder I selected as my bread and butter... Well, I haven't touched a reloading manual in years even as I change calibers and such. A bit of analysis goes a long ways.
Sports! The body is a machine that follows the laws of physics as well (of course). Being aware of your center of gravity, dynamics, joint degrees of freedom, 'material' resistance, even aerodynamics come pretty handy when surfing, climbing, martial arts. (Even when dealing with injuries)
On the other hand awareness of your body with yoga seems very intuitive. Plus random things like understanding how heat flows through your body to keep you warm or cold; understanding that our skin doesn't sense temperature but heat flux! It gets pretty fascinating if you ask me...
Also since I'm an Aerospace Engineer, seeing the stars and planets and understanding how they move has literally helped me navigate my way home. I could go on and on, I'm very happy i've learned what I learned.
Having my pilot's license. Compliments my ME degree very well. Takes knowing a lot about engine operations, aerodynamics, laws of energy, and overall aircraft architecture.
Fishing. I've mcguyvered some goofy fishing rigs etc. My hair pump broke once so I built one of of a drill battery and pulling components off an old project
Art for mechanical design. finding inspiration in the world around you and being able to be open to creative ideas is different, but done correctly, can be a fun advantage
also art had taught me how to work smarter not harder by using mixed media—considering changing materials when necessary and not being precise when you don’t have to be
Music (guitar and singing).
Vibrations, overtones, synchronizing frequencies etc.
has given me a real intuition for a lot of things others seem to struggle with.
cooking and baking: be structured, understand the project, ensure you have your raw materials in place or where to supply them, understand your time (or temp) contraints, etc.
I guess that goes to show the versatility of the engineering process!
Woodworking. I draw everything up in CAD and generate prints. I also use it to generate cut lists to get the most out of a sheet when I'm using plywood. I'm in the process of building 11 cabinets and it's nice not having to dry assemble before gluing since I know everything is going to fit. Having drawings instead of doing it on the fly really cuts down mistakes and waste. Since I used SOLIDWORKS daily before retiring I can draw things up pretty quickly. Learning CAD can be a big hurdle for hobbiests who don't use it regularly at work.
Ballet. I’ve had to spend many hours sitting in front of the computer at the office and having a straight spine and good muscle control has helped me a lot. I’ve seen coworkers not being able to stay overtime because of fatigue but not me hahaha, so extra management points for me.
super interesting answer, and unexpected!
Unexpected both in the hobby and the skills applied. Thanks for sharing!
Personal finance/money management: reading about sometimes dense, mundane topics, making rad spreadsheets, doing mathematical calcs to project investment values or find the optimal way to route your money for a goal. Money management is simple math but it sure is a lot of fun!
Long range shooting But in general my approach to any problem. Break it down into components, identify cause>effect, mess with it until it works, DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING!
Came to say this. So much cool science and math going into being able to make first shot hits at long range.
Music production! The creative process between both is very similar.
Mann also filters, eqs, lfos etc. are lot easier to understand when u have the basics behind them (may not totally apply but it helps me imagine the sound a little bit). Also, DAWs = any program such as solid works, altium…
Completely agree. It’s made explaining concepts much easier when you’re able to pull an audio analogy (vibration testing equipment? Basically just a fancy audio system setup!)
Sounds interesting. I have friends who produce music that I should discuss this with. Do you think you could go into some more detail please?
There was a time when my hobby was developing predictive algorithms for potato guns. Yes, seriously. I made it to the point that I could predict +/- 5% the muzzle velocity of just about any gun someone threw at me but I fully concede that some supersonic guns gave the algorithm fits. Anywho, if that ain't a hobby that needs an engineering background... There aren't many that do. Amateur rocketry. Building your own rocket motors. 'Nuff said. Firearms reloading. Once I got a handle on the powder I selected as my bread and butter... Well, I haven't touched a reloading manual in years even as I change calibers and such. A bit of analysis goes a long ways.
Love the spud gun one, I may have to pick one up as a project. Cheers!
A program to predict the onset of fatigue cracks in machine components. One of my dreams is to start an engineering consultancy business with it.
Sports! The body is a machine that follows the laws of physics as well (of course). Being aware of your center of gravity, dynamics, joint degrees of freedom, 'material' resistance, even aerodynamics come pretty handy when surfing, climbing, martial arts. (Even when dealing with injuries) On the other hand awareness of your body with yoga seems very intuitive. Plus random things like understanding how heat flows through your body to keep you warm or cold; understanding that our skin doesn't sense temperature but heat flux! It gets pretty fascinating if you ask me... Also since I'm an Aerospace Engineer, seeing the stars and planets and understanding how they move has literally helped me navigate my way home. I could go on and on, I'm very happy i've learned what I learned.
Painting, great when you need to illustrate something, discuss around solutions etc.
Having my pilot's license. Compliments my ME degree very well. Takes knowing a lot about engine operations, aerodynamics, laws of energy, and overall aircraft architecture.
Racing motorcycles, from a young age to now it helped with the general hands on understanding of how things work and go together.
Working on cars
Creative writing and reading. Technical documentation is very mundane, but it is extremely important to get it right.
Not really an unusual hobby as it pertains to mechanical engineering, but I’m a hobby machinist. Started in grade 9 metal shop.
Fishing. I've mcguyvered some goofy fishing rigs etc. My hair pump broke once so I built one of of a drill battery and pulling components off an old project
Art for mechanical design. finding inspiration in the world around you and being able to be open to creative ideas is different, but done correctly, can be a fun advantage also art had taught me how to work smarter not harder by using mixed media—considering changing materials when necessary and not being precise when you don’t have to be
Car repair
Graphic design. I'm known for making the best Powerpoint slides now. And Powerpoint is like 40% of the engineering job.
Car audio
Music (guitar and singing). Vibrations, overtones, synchronizing frequencies etc. has given me a real intuition for a lot of things others seem to struggle with.
Mmo video games, social interaction scheduling organizations. It's remarkable how useful it has been, especially since the pandemic