[bane]

I help run an general purpose applied computation R&D lab for a medium sized non-profit. In the last year we've worked in fields as far reaching as bioinformatics to cyber defense to finance.

In the meanwhile, we've helped develop faster disease detection assays to improving safety in transportation.

We get to play with lots of big computers, pitch new ideas, and can have immediate impact on people's lives.

I love this job, it's probably the best job I've ever had. I've even turned down some less appealing jobs at Google because of the range of cutting edge things I get to work on in a normal day and the Google positions weren't offering that. I've never been so engaged, on a daily basis. I'm long past my honeymoon with this job and can't see an end to it. Knowing that I'm helping people with my work makes it extra rewarding.

I've worked in similar applied R or D fields, did a stint at a couple software companies and worked as an analyst from time to time, working on some very hard problems. But nothing with this kind of positive impact potential.

Will I help change the world? Probably not, but I'm pretty sure I'm helping make it a better place.

[circlefavshape]

How did you get this into kind of work? I've been working in dev for 20 years, web dev since 2000, and it's pretty depressing that doing good work just means extra profit for a shareholder :(

[bane]

I wouldn't think of it that way at all. Your work helps support you and your family, and your coworkers and their families! Kids get to go to school, parents get to provide nice homes for them, and non-kid folks get to have nice lives, all because of your work. Sometimes, even if the work is prosaic, it enables wonderful lives for the workers.

If you are interested in it, I would highly recommend looking at working with National Laboratories, or companies that work with or manage National Labs. FFRDCs are another great place to look https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federally_funded_research_and_...

Be prepared to take a salary hit, but the work can be really rewarding (if you end up in the right place).

[UK-AL]

Why is that depressing?