I am a retired computer programmer. In my former life, "big iron" meant IBM mainframe computers. I still remember though, stories my dad told about shipyard lathes and machine work in places like Bridgeport, Connecticut.
I have fond memories of Erector Sets, Heathkit, and, for older members in the US, the Knight Radio Lab from Allied Radio.
I will probably always be an underfunded hobby machinist and woodworker, but have had a lifelong love of machines and the machines that produce them.
Sometimes I have insights into problems but more usually enjoy reading solutions and thinking how they may be applied on small scale projects.
My first real metalworking project was a vertical wobbler air engine. Having read a good deal, I felt compelled to do an own design. When it was completed and ran the first time I put air to it, I was overjoyed and amazed.
Alan