Engineering jobs with a Physics degree

[Forensics]

Note that device physics is a field of study in physics.

Let me even go one step further. In many areas of science, what you can do and measure are highly dictated by the quality of instrument and measuring devices that are available. Often, this means what is available commercially. This is often not the case in high energy physics and in some areas of astrophysics. In these fields, especially for major, large scale projects such as a large particle collides, the experiments include the research, design, and the building/construction of new, one-of-a-kind detector and instrumentation. They literally have to invent and build their own instrument! Often these are done by physicists, chemists, material scientists, and engineers. In these fields, detectors and the physics of the detectors, are very much an intrinsic part of the field.

This is no different than what I've described for the accelerator physics field, where physicists in that field have almost the same technical knowledge as engineers.

Physics is such a wide field of study that encompasses so many different areas and expertise. This forum is a good place to debunk a lot of inaccurate ideas about working in this field.

Zz.

Yea, I am very happy I made an account on this website. It has been extremely informative and I love it here.

 

[ZapperZ]

Seizing on this opportunity to expand this further, I'd like to point out the conference proceedings from the last TIPP 2011 that I attended.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/18753892/37

You can get access to the proceedings papers for free. Now look at the topics being covered, AND, the people involved. You'll see a mixture of physicists, engineers, chemists, material scientists, etc.. etc. I can show you many papers here where you will be hard-pressed to tell me that this does not look like "engineering" at all. Yet, many of these are done by physicists.

And please also note that many of these new technologies that are being invented, developed, and built with the initial purpose of particle detection, high energy physics, astrophysics, etc. WILL have practical, commercial applications later on that will become common use by the public. We have seen this happening over and over again. The medical diagnostic field, for example, owes greatly to advances in detectors pioneered for high energy physics experiments.

Zz.

 

[PhilosophyofPhysics]

:(

i am doomed

 

[pinkfishegg]

Has anyone gotten an engineering internship with a physics degree? I'm currently in my last year of undergraduate physics and unsure if I want to do a Phd in physics, or a masters or Phd in engineering. I've tried a materials science internship and have taken some circuits courses (taught by physicists) and was pretty bored in both cases. I'm not crazy about programming either so software engineering is note for me I might like civil or mechanical engineering though but I don't want to go to grad school and then be trapped later. What do people suggest? I go to a small liberal arts college and we don't have an engineering department. Should I read an engineering book? Should I try job shadowing an engineer?

I like physics for the sake of physics but have only done research in materials science and astronomy, neither of which I'm crazy about. I like being in the lab doing experiments but am just not crazy about those subjects. I would like to branch out but am not sure how to do it.