Congratulations on your job. You must have really impressed them to have them hire a physicist to do the same job as an engineer. As of two years ago when I was job-hunting, businesses are looking to fill a selected spot with a very specific skill set that (they believe), they can only fill with an specific engineer with a deep narrow background. For example, they want not just an EE, but an EE with power expertise, or control expertise , or circuit expertise, or ME with propulsions, or ME with structures, etc. Because they had hundreds of openings for a few positions, they could afford to be choosy.
I have a similar story with learning control theory after my physics MS. My employer encouraged and paid for university classes in control theory. In those days my employer actually flew faculty in from across the state to teach classes. They also allowed adjustments in my working hours etc. These were days before computer instruction made long distance instruction less practicable, Now money is tight but your employer may be able to accommodate with tele-classes. If not, things will be harder.
Lot's of smaller less formal classes in programming the Arduino or basic STAMP for beginners. I attended one for Arduino at SPARKFUN in Boulder, Colorado. Perhaps some nearby Community College or local hobby group (check the internet or even the newspaper) can be found.
By the way, I think many professionals with physics degree, enjoy, and are well suited for the transition to control engineering. I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like if I got involved in it before physics.