Looking: Engineering in Greater Boston/NH Area

Using an alias here since my regular username clearly identifies me.

Anyway, girlfriend got an incredible offer outside of Boston, so looks like we're moving to MA this summer. As such, I'm now on the hunt for openings in the Greater Boston/Northeastern MA/Southern NH area.

I'm a mechanical/project engineer with ~3 years experience at a small engineering consultuancy. I'm the lead engineer for all analysis work (FEA, CFD, etc) with Solidworks Simulation. I also do a lot of project-based work, ie-sizing pumps/motors/valves/etc for custom equipment we build, engineering calculations, etc. I have some experience with CNC milling, wood/plastic/metal/composite fabrication, rapid prototyping and basic controls (Wago PLC's, Red Lion Data Stations, Eurotherm PID controllers).

I'm interested in:
FEA/CFD/CAE
Defense/Aerospace
Renewables
Outdoors/Ski/Lifestyle
Short-run, prototype or precision manufacturing and machining
Automation - short on programming experience, but this is an area I'm really interested in.

If anyone knows of any opportunities, please shoot me a PM or reply here.

Thanks.

There are a metric ton of opportunities in that area. Where outside of Boston?
If you want defense, look up BAE in Nashua/Manch

Oh, additionally it looks like there may be some engy openings at Timberland in Stratham (note that their parent now own a bunch of other outdoor brands now, like North Face).

She'll be working in the Waltham area, so I'm looking in a 50 mile radius of there (although, ideally hoping to keep it north of there and out of the city).

Thanks for the tips. I had checked out BAE a few weeks ago and didn't see anything. Seemed to be mostly eletronics and optics, but I'll keep an eye on it. I know Raytheon has an office in Woburn, but most of their openings were for senior positions.

Funny you mention Timberland - I just noticed an opening there last night. I don't have the footwear industry experience, but may just go for it anyway. I'd love to get into that industry. Do you work there or at VFC?

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Originally Posted by movingToMA

She'll be working in the Waltham area, so I'm looking in a 50 mile radius of there (although, ideally hoping to keep it north of there and out of the city).

Thanks for the tips. I had checked out BAE a few weeks ago and didn't see anything. Seemed to be mostly eletronics and optics, but I'll keep an eye on it. I know Raytheon has an office in Woburn, but most of their openings were for senior positions.

Funny you mention Timberland - I just noticed an opening there last night. I don't have the footwear industry experience, but may just go for it anyway. I'd love to get into that industry. Do you work there or at VFC?

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Nah, I just used to work in the area (work for Liberty), but there should be a ton of stuff in the 128 corridor as well as cambridge or nashua/manch area. I will say this - the commute from NH to waltham is hellish. You'll want to stick in MA if you value your GF's sanity.

Thanks for the info. Any feeling for the commute from southern NH, west of the Merrimack, to Waltham? Still bad?

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Originally Posted by movingToMA

Thanks for the info. Any feeling for the commute from southern NH, west of the Merrimack, to Waltham? Still bad?

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Hahaha. Yes. Good luck.

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Bummer. Was hoping to be able to live in NH but if the commute is that bad, it's not worth the hassle.

Thanks for the info

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Originally Posted by movingToMA

Bummer. Was hoping to be able to live in NH but if the commute is that bad, it's not worth the hassle.

Thanks for the info

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If you consider closer to the coast of nh the commute on 95 128 is better than 93 or 3 by far. It is at least tolerable. But personally I do not have to do it and won't ever again.

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Yeah, here's the breakdown (assuming Waltham exits):
Portsmouth - Waltham 6 AM or so - hour to an hour and a half - Add half hour to commute time for 7 AM, more if 7:30 or later
Nashua/Manch - Waltham is about the same from what I understand. It's also really shitty traffic from both perspectives, as Boston area drivers are aggressive, skilled and unflinching.

If she can get a 3 days in the office/2 days Work from Home (which my friend does), it's tolerable but not ideal. The big problem with Waltham is that you can basically only get there by car. Downtown Boston you can bus/train/commuter rail to ease the commute.

To be honest though, other than tax difference, there are a lot of nice places out towards the 128 ring that provide a lot of flexibility. Depending on what you're into/where you're from, there are some good rock gyms, mountain biking and other stuff within striking distance. To get up to the mountains quick, you just have to be willing to wake up at 5-5:30 in the morning (or late at night) to brave the MA->NH transition on the weekend.

Ya that is how I would do it if I worked in MA. I would not want the stress and wasted time in the car. Commuter train would be the way in my opinion. Work, catch up on news, waste time on tgr or surf ski or other porn on way in and beer and socialize on way home. Stress free or at least less than dealing with the ant march on the freeway. Car packed each Friday to Jay Peak or High George. Hit me up if you want to tour. Good luck.

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PS - Feel free to PM from your main or this account if you want more area info.

Thanks for the info guys. This has been a huge help.

NH would really only make sense if I wind up getting a job there and the income tax savings offset the crappy commute and possibly higher rent/property tax. It doesn't really sound like that's going to work though. We're coming from NJ, where she rides the commuter rail into NYC every day (~1 hr door to door) and is sick of it.

How's the area north and west of 495 (IE - Groton, Ayer, etc)? Seems a bit more rural, which is ultimately what we'll probably be going for. Either way I'm assuming we'll spend at least a year renting, getting a feel for the area and trying to figure out where we ultimately want to be.

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Originally Posted by schuss

To get up to the mountains quick, you just have to be willing to wake up at 5-5:30 in the morning (or late at night) to brave the MA->NH transition on the weekend.

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This is interesting. Didn't think it would be that bad. Any feel for drive time from Waltham area to, say, Magic or Jay Peak on a Friday night?

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Originally Posted by movingToMA

Thanks for the info guys. This has been a huge help.

NH would really only make sense if I wind up getting a job there and the income tax savings offset the crappy commute and possibly higher rent/property tax. It doesn't really sound like that's going to work though. We're coming from NJ, where she rides the commuter rail into NYC every day (~1 hr door to door) and is sick of it.

How's the area north and west of 495 (IE - Groton, Ayer, etc)? Seems a bit more rural, which is ultimately what we'll probably be going for. Either way I'm assuming we'll spend at least a year renting, getting a feel for the area and trying to figure out where we ultimately want to be.



This is interesting. Didn't think it would be that bad. Any feel for drive time from Waltham area to, say, Magic or Jay Peak on a Friday night?

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495 ring is fairly rural, mostly. Basically once you get to the Concord/Sudbury ring you're dealing with something between rural and suburban (think lots of trees, medium density). If you do that, make sure you're near a commuter rail, as that will be the easy way into the city. The density actually falls off rather quickly once you hit 128.
I have friends/coworkers in Southborough, Natick and Canton who all enjoy it and have big yards/trees etc.
The tradeoff is that a lot of these places are basically bedroom communities with very little downtown/community to speak of, as everyone just commutes in and out of the city, so you won't be able to walk and get a coffee or something.
If you're dead set on rural, look to Southborough/Wayland area, as north of there is either scummy (Billerica) or expensive (Concord). There's good mountain biking and other stuff in the area and access to commuter rail. Inside the ring, Newton area is pretty awesome for people who hate cities but have to work in them, and rentals aren't bad compared to house prices (Parts of Newton have more than 50% of the population making 500k or more). There's a lot of parks in the area (Cutler etc.) with riding/walking, so you can get your fix without dealing with traffic, while still having direct access to the best Green line (D, no street crossings before downtown).

Magic and Jay Peak are ~3 hours apart, so no real comparison. If you want the most efficient ski area, go to Cannon, as it's only 2 hours from the 128 ring without traffic. Magic is an issue as the diagonal you want from the Boston area doesn't have any interstates. Northern VT isn't bad, but it would be 3.5-4 hours with traffic to the Stowe area if you left after dinner (if you left before dinner, add an hour).

Thanks schuss and lynch. Great info all around. I'll probably shoot you guys a PM as the house search draws closer.

Fired off a few applications this week, but still on the hunt for any leads. If anyone knows of anything, would love to hear!

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Originally Posted by schuss

495 ring is fairly rural, mostly. Basically once you get to the Concord/Sudbury ring you're dealing with something between rural and suburban (think lots of trees, medium density). If you do that, make sure you're near a commuter rail, as that will be the easy way into the city.

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Plus you're a hop, skip and jump away from wa-wa for weeknight skiing ;)

Obligatory:

I'll take it! Still better than the 270 vertical feet of Campgaw!

sent you a PM about Timberland

Have you looked at Lincoln Lab for work? Secretive defense-type work but a big employer of engineers in the area. I'd take a look for sure. It's in Lexington, which is fairly close to Waltham.

Waltham is actually a good spot... Of all the towns within 20 minutes of there (Newton, Needham, Weston, Concord, Sudbury, Natick, Lexington, Bedford, etc), it's the cheapest by far. Dedham and Framingham are cheapish, but I like Waltham a ton better. My unsolicited advice would be to grab a cheap apartment in Waltham for now, experience Waltham (Moody Street has a lot of really fun bars and restaurants) and easy access to Boston, and explore the area you think you want to settle down. Like someone else mentioned, there is definitely some good mountain biking around here, surprisingly. And Highland is only 1.5 hours away.

My buddy bought a small beater house in Bolton in the middle of the woods (you can actually see stars at night and not hear any cars) a few years ago for I think around $260. They completely gutted it and put in new everything, did a lot themselves, probably spent about $60 or $70, and now they have a beautiful (albeit small) house in a great spot. He commutes in to Lexington, and I think it only takes him about 30-35 minutes. So yeah, north and west is good.

The commute north on weekends really isnt that bad. Waltham is right on 95 (I live just south in Newton--I'm on the highway in 2 minutes from my apartment), and from there you can get north easily. Friday nights suck, so I end up leaving early Saturday AM. Sundays you will usually get caught in traffic coming back, but just stay later at the hill and drink a few extra beers. I've found traffic on 93 in southern NH to be worst from about 4 to 7 PM on Sundays. If you do end up on 495, I'd go as far north as you can--495 is a long arc and always takes me longer than what I think it should.

Check out http://www.cantabrigianmechanics.com/
Ricky is a friend who also does a lot of work on my bikes. He has a ton going on, and although I'm not sure he is necessarily hiring, if you can bring something to the table I wouldnt be surprised if he would talk to you. He may also have some ideas for other interesting opportunities in the area. I have his email if you don't get ahold of anyone through the website.

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Originally Posted by dark_star

Have you looked at Lincoln Lab for work? Secretive defense-type work but a big employer of engineers in the area. I'd take a look for sure. It's in Lexington, which is fairly close to Waltham.

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Thanks for the tip. I had checked out Lincoln Lab a few weeks ago, but it seemed like most of the postings required a PhD or 5-7+ yrs of experience. I just took another look though and there appear to be a few postings in my field with lower experience requirements.

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Originally Posted by Natedogg

Check out http://www.cantabrigianmechanics.com/
Ricky is a friend who also does a lot of work on my bikes. He has a ton going on, and although I'm not sure he is necessarily hiring, if you can bring something to the table I wouldnt be surprised if he would talk to you. He may also have some ideas for other interesting opportunities in the area. I have his email if you don't get ahold of anyone through the website.

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Thanks for all of the general info. It's funny you know the guy at Cantabrigian. I just came across their website over the weekend when I was looking for machine shops in the area. Definitely looks like he's doing cool stuff, but I kind of wrote him off for employment since it seems like the smaller places aren't really hiring. May be worth a shot though - I'll shoot you a PM later with some questions.

Overall, the job hunt is going okay I suppose. I've applied to around 10 different openings so far and had a second round phone interview for one place in North Reading this morning. Really interested in this opening, so hopefully it pans out.

Definitely still looking for opportunities though, so if anyone comes across anything, please let me know!

Have you considered the reverse commute from MA to NH? You could check out L3's facility in Londonderry in addition to BAE in Nashua that was already mentioned. Driving against traffic down 93 wasn't that bad 10 years ago.

Yes, open to that as well. We'll most likely end up in MA somewhere based on where I wind up. As of right now, open to anything within a 50 mile radius of Waltham, so it opens up a lot of areas. Last I checked I didn't see anything at BAE, but I'll take another look and check out L3 as well. Thanks.

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Originally Posted by movingToMA

Thanks for all of the general info. It's funny you know the guy at Cantabrigian. I just came across their website over the weekend when I was looking for machine shops in the area. Definitely looks like he's doing cool stuff, but I kind of wrote him off for employment since it seems like the smaller places aren't really hiring. May be worth a shot though - I'll shoot you a PM later with some questions.

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It sounds like you might do a lot of the same stuff he does, and I know he is buried in work. I think he has a bunch of friends and interns working for him, so I'm not sure if he has plenty of people with your experience or not, but if you could bring him new accounts and take on a ton of work, I wouldn't be surprised if he'd be interested. Or even consider taking another job and helping him out every once in awhile to get your foot in the door. Super chill guy, and he does a lot of varied, cool stuff--including bikes.

I kept seeing people post about BAE and was thinking it was the same as Ultra--I think they used to be partnered. But a quick look on their website and it looks like they aren't now. Check out Ultra Electronics or Ultra Ocean Systems. They are a client of ours--they do a lot of defense work. They're in Braintree, which would be a relatively easy commute from Waltham (or split the difference and live in Needham, Norwood, or Dedham).

We used to have another small client who built small parts for defense stuff. It was called Castronics and was in Medway. It looks like it may have moved to Mendon--worth looking into. Even easier commute.

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Originally Posted by movingToMA

How's the area north and west of 495 (IE - Groton, Ayer, etc)? Seems a bit more rural, which is ultimately what we'll probably be going for

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let me know if you decide to come this way. I live in West Groton and have a pretty good familiarity with hiking/single track/kayaking in the area, the local real estate scene, and local restaurants. there is no night life to speak of.