Paintball Engineers?

[sirmagalot]

I'm gonna be going to college next year and I'm gonna major in engineering (probably mechanical) and I was wondering if any of you guys know what a paintball engineer does and how and if I could do this kind of work. Any info from actual engineers would be sweet.

[ManowaR]

Sirmagalot,

I have a Mechanical Engineering Degree, and though I have not practiced that trade in several years (Network engineering pays better in the DC area), I can tell you what you may need to focus on from a player view: Drafting (paper and CAD), mathematics up the calculus level, physics to ~ the 300 level, “Static’s and strength of material’s”. Both Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics (for CO2, and HPA performance as well as Gun performance) [never forget that gas is merely a classification of a fluid that is of a very low viscosity and the compressibility and behavior is different than a liquid]. As electives, anything that will get you experience writing G code for CnC Mills and lathes, and any machine shop time you can get is a plus. Work through any class involving “prototyping”, and any industrial processes so you can acquire the theoretical experience getting items to market at maximum profit. With the newer markers being electronic, you may want to try for a double minor of comp-sci and electrical engineering, for the circuit design and programming.
2 things to be advised of is that some of the less conservative professors may frown upon what they may see as a focus on firearms, and that this will be a heck of a curriculum in terms of the amount of math you will have to focus on. You should also be prepared to be able to do all of your calculations in the absence of any automation whatsoever. When I was in school for this, some of my instructors forbade calculators in 3-400 level classes. A lot of the guys I went to school with have gone into the HAVC field designing ventilation systems for large buildings, so you always can fall back on that.
CAD: most markers are prototyped in a CAD programs now, and then they are subjected to the theoretical stresses of operation based on the specified materials and their designated tolerances. This you should see as a plus, not a norm in that the computer will do the work for you, and that you are still able to do everything on paper.
If you can take a marker from start to finish between years 3, and 4 you will be in good shape. Oh, Don’t be ashamed if you end up going for 5 years, just to get all of the classes for all of the degree requirements. No under water basket weaving for you…

Please Tom, chime in if you want to see any thing else out of the engineers you may look at hiring in the future.


ManowaR
Mech E
Network Architect and engineer
All-around geek (according to my wife )

[CameraGuy]

The courses ManowaR mentioned will certainly be a step in the right direction. A few microelectronics or electro-mechanical courses wouldn't be out of place - there are an awful lot of electronic markers out there. Practical shop experience doesn't hurt either.

I'm interested to see if Tom or Manike have anything to add to this, but I don't imagine there are very many engineers out there working solely on paintball products. Working in the field isn't a bad goal, but keep your options open (luckily, most engineering skills tend to transfer fairly easily between different fields).

You might also consider a few business courses (doesn't hurt to be able to sell what you design without a middle man sucking up a portion of the profits ).

As for my background, I'm going into the second year of an Engineering program (and, in fact, about to decide what sort of engineering I want to wind up doing).

[BlackVCG]

This topic comes up about once a year, so here's some previous threads to shed some light on the topic.

Paintball Engineering

More Paintball Engineering

As you'll probably see from these threads paintball engineering really isn't much and you can do far more interesting things elsewhere in the mechanical industry. I'm going into my senior year of college to get my BS degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology and I'll say that you should look more into fields such as Renewable Energy and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

[Star_Base_CGI]

Read about all of Toms products, blow forward paintball gun, perfect circles and the warp feed. Tom and his team make all of that stuff.

People who work on guns are also Airsmiths.

Read about other products people make like, Closed Breech, Open Breech, blowback and autocking guns,.

Part of what they do is take things apart and see how things work. Than try to come up with new ideas for new, different or exciting products people might want.

Go read stuff about the AuTOMag and other guns.

[Rocket Scientist]

I have a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from MIT and currently work as a Powertrain Engineer at Buell Motorcycle Co. as well as own a paintball field and pro shop.

I have to say with the exception of a few companys there is serious lack of engineering in paintball. So many designs are just copies and modifications of other products, and the flaws associated with copying something without a full understanding of it jump out pretty quick.

The classes already listed are a good start, I'd throw in a bit of Fluid Dynamic and Thermal.

If paintball is the field you want to go into, go for it, but definately do it because you like the game, not for the money.

As an airsmith you'll be a popular guy if you really understand the details of how the equipment works, so you can look at a gun figure out why it doesn't work not just what is broken, and throw parts at it

Good luck, if you happen to be in the Milwaukee area feel free to drop into our place for a chat.

Dan Hurda
BFG Paintball
N113 W18750 Carnegie Dr
Germantown, Wi 53022
WWW.BFGPaintball.com
BFG@BrushFireGames.com
(262) 250-4BFG

[AlabamaMan]

Originally posted by BlackVCG
I'll say that you should look more into fields such as Renewable Energy and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

I know what youre really try to say Steve.

He is saying that you should goto OIT (Oregon Institute of Technology) and take classes from Bob Rodgers, and Brian Moravec.

[Kevmaster]

Tom's answer is always "Don't get into the paintball industry"

quick and simple