Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply.
I had a background in web development (bachelors) and eventually I saw that web 'designers' were largely a dime a dozen, and programming for the web was exploding (still is). I would think that with your scientific background you could find yourself a really sweet gig in a niche market.
I'd love a sweet niche job.
I think HPC computing is really exciting and people like you are in demand.
Unfortunately most of the big super computers are at national labs and its super difficult to get positions their. plus they really like post docs. Is there any other industries that are getting into HPC?
One thing to consider here, especially in light of some of the suggested areas of pursuit... If you go into a position that does not require your knowledge of chemistry and experience there, be prepared to be working for entry level software development wages.
This is my current plan of attack. It seems like the biggest thing holding me back is that I don't have a CS degree and I don't have any work experience.
If you're finding yourself interested in HPC, I'd check out the vendor list for Nvidia's GTC conference..
This is great idea. I'll definitely have to follow up on that.
I'd second what Moog said regarding HPC. The largest problem in the HPC world is finding folks who speak both "computer" and the end users language, chemistry in your case. The problem here is going to be that you need to be able to demonstrate that you can speak computer in order to get the job. I good way to go about this might be to pick a language and write a chemistry simulation. Then... make it fast, as fast as you possibly can. Then make it faster by switching languages, either to a language that allows for better utilization of the computer hardware, or more efficient handling of the data and computation, depending on your interests and such. This is what I would expect an cross domain expert to do in an HPC environment -- take the users algorithym and make it run as fast as possible in the environment available.
I've actually started writing some programs like that I'll include an excerpt for you guys to look at.
Android development is another area with a lot of recent growth.
This isn't a bad idea. I've been trying to pump out a new project every few weeks. This might be my next one.
Here's my current resume if anyone feels super excited about critiquing it : ).
Positions, Projects & Accomplishments
xxxxxx, Graduate Project (2012)
• Developed xxxxxx in java to analyze nonplanar potential energy surfaces of reactive compounds via molecular exclusion surfaces. This program can be used to assess which compounds would make useful starting materials for catalysts without the need for expensive lab work.
• Utilized these surfaces to accurately predict outcomes of experimental research into xxxxxxxxx spectroscopy.
xxxxxxxxxxxx, Graduate Project (2012)
• Developed a computational chemistry program in Java to solve the Hartree-Fock equations and compute the energy of the various adducts for xxxxxx. This Program was designed to replace expensive commercial computational packages such as Gaussian.
• Utilized CERN’s COLT Matrix Math Library to handle the matrix decompositions. Fully multithreaded four center integral evaluations.
• Utilized JUnit to automate testing. Data for the unit tests was derived from a FORTRAN IV program from literature.
Academic/Industrial Collaborator with xxxxxx Industries (2011)
• Developed task specific ionic liquids to be used as high temperature lubricant additives.
Researcher at xxxxxxxx (Dec 2009 to Dec 2010)
• Used Matlab to Developed Software to estimate Hansen Solubility Parameters for Specialty Coatings and high performance epoxies.
• Developed a database of solubility parameters for task specific coatings.
• These Tools were used to create epoxy formulations that were used in new products by a major electronics company.