Thanks Toymaker. With a Physics background, Engineering is just solving problems of everything. But I flunked Electronics and Computer software courses, so sick to everything else... My respect to your EE career! All the stuff I could not comprehend.
Although I have no formal training in any of the Engineering, I do have 5 years part-time (Apprenticeship) in compressor and car and truck engine refurbishment - from working for my Dad's mate in his workshop all my out-of-school hours.
And have held jobs in Electrical, Civil and Mechanical design, Manufacturing Quality, Installation, Commissioning of new plant and Safety officer, Workforce and Project supervision, planning coordination, etc., etc. Managed Regulations and associated Approvals and Audits for the Company, details such as Car Emissions testing, etc. Just lots of stuff where I have become the "Expert" - when there was no-one else for me to pass-on the job to.... until years later when I trained 3 Engineers to take on my workload so I could retire. And I never received any promotion in 40 years. So I obviously wasn't much good at all that! C'est la Guerre?
My only little steps into "combustion" - apart from being the Engineer "expert" in vehicle emissions for the factory - is to have made dozens of gas burners (mostly ceramic) for model steam boilers. Many problems that arise because the combustion chamber and exhaust pipe gas dynamics are not what the burners were made to see. The whole pressure gradient - and passageway ratios - are not what you may expect from "Simple" calculations. To the extent, that one guy went 2 years trying to resolve his "resonant noise" from his boiler... until I spotted how the pressure from "within the combustion space" was limiting his air supply due to back pressure, so offered him a better design of air intake... which worked! So that was a bit of a challenge and fun!
Enjoy your hobby - it is a fantastic project to finished.
K2