Are there alternative ways of geting involved in technology?

[SolarpunkFan]

I've made it no secret that I'm terrible at math, no matter how hard I try to learn it. I just can't seem to think in terms of mathematics/logic. The problem is I find a lot of different technologies interesting and I don't know alternative ways to get involved in them.

So I'm wondering if there are other ways to get involved. I'm artistic and creative, plus I find cooperatives and open source hardware interesting. Here's a few things that interest me:

[*]Robotics.

[*]Aerospace.

[*]Horticultural technologies (especially hydro/aeroponics and stuff like the Global Village Construction Kit).

[*]3D Printing.

[*]Sustainable systems (not just high tech stuff like solar energy and better forms of energy storage, but also low tech stuff like non-electrical rainwater filtration).

My apologies if my questions/ignorance annoys people.

[K. A. Pital]

Skilled assembly could be your way if your hands are good.

Don't even know what else to say. Otherwise (if you're good with the pen OR the photo camera but bad with both logic AND hands), try finding a job in media support for the tech sector - articles, reports etc. It is not unheard of industrial enterprises or infrastructure companies to give official jobs to smart enthusiasts - no matter be it rail, air, drone copters etc.

DJI are known to be looking for a skilled drone pilot here and there. That's just one example.

[SolarpunkFan]

Skilled assembly could be your way if your hands are good.

Don't even know what else to say. Otherwise (if you're good with the pen OR the photo camera but bad with both logic AND hands), try finding a job in media support for the tech sector - articles, reports etc. It is not unheard of industrial enterprises or infrastructure companies to give official jobs to smart enthusiasts - no matter be it rail, air, drone copters etc.

DJI are known to be looking for a skilled drone pilot here and there. That's just one example.

Thank you!

I took an electronics class way back in high school and I was able to build stuff quite well, so assembly looks to be a good route.

[Ace Pace]

Basically, any technician position. Properly utilising robots is currently a very serious skill, flying drones is hard and tiring work, etc.

[Esquire]

What exactly do you mean by 'getting involved?' Do you want to work with existing technologies? Develop new ones or popularize the obscure? Support invention? Some fourth thing?

[SolarpunkFan]

What exactly do you mean by 'getting involved?' Do you want to work with existing technologies? Develop new ones or popularize the obscure? Support invention? Some fourth thing?

Definitely working with existing technologies. I've been looking into some open-source hydroponics projects and they seem interesting, I think I'll give those a go.

[Broomstick]

For about 10 years I worked as administrative support to medical researchers. People forget that in order to spend their time doing science actual scientists require mundane support teams. Scratched my interest-itch in medicine and science without my actually having to earn a PhD or MD.

[biostem]

There are several fields that deal with things like ergonomics or even visual presentation/readability, that don't deal with math all that much.

[SolarpunkFan]

For about 10 years I worked as administrative support to medical researchers. People forget that in order to spend their time doing science actual scientists require mundane support teams. Scratched my interest-itch in medicine and science without my actually having to earn a PhD or MD.

That inspired me to do a job search and I've found some nearby that interest me. I'll be looking into those.

[biostem]

For about 10 years I worked as administrative support to medical researchers. People forget that in order to spend their time doing science actual scientists require mundane support teams. Scratched my interest-itch in medicine and science without my actually having to earn a PhD or MD.

That inspired me to do a job search and I've found some nearby that interest me. I'll be looking into those.

Just be careful to scrutinize what you'll actually be doing - some of these "support" positions are basically gophers, (unless you want to do that sort of thing, which is fine - just make sure you go into it well-informed).

[Broomstick]

And, of course, any knowledge you can bring to the situation is a bonus. I think I got that job because I pointed out to the director that it would be great to have a secretary that not only knew how to spell nephrology but also knew it had something to do with kidneys. Back when they'd send me off to a medical library to look for relevant research they could rely on me to do that sort of cross-referencing without a lot of hand-holding.

So think about what expertise beyond "go-fer" and the like you can bring to the job.

It actually got to be a bit of a game with some of the researchers, fling jargon at me to see if I could render it in English. Like endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography translates to sticking a tube down your throat to get a look at your gallbladder and pancreas.