Nice to hear from you Ben!
My undergraduate degree was in mechatronics engineering, although I focused more on the electrical instrumentation and software side of it than the mechanics. Since then I went through a neuroscience PHD focused on behavioral modelling and then did a postdoc working mostly on computational optics and microCT imaging (although in the context of vision, so framed as neuroscience).
After graduating next year I’m going to start a small research company and fund my research through a combination of sources, likely including small grants, SaaS businesses, and consulting.
I’ve gone down a similar route and am currently using consulting to subsidize a small amount of independent research. Would love to hear more about your plans for independent research, as there aren’t really many people doing this at the moment!
You may also be interested to know that IGDORE is starting a research consultancy for our affiliated researchers, which could be helpful if you’d like to do part of your work through a consultancy rather than independently. Some initial comments on this topic can be found here: Research Consultancy (collaborative proposal) - IGDORE - On Science & Academia