Masters in Mechanical or Nuclear for useful in the industry

[koab1mjr]

Hi all

I am happy to announce that I have made it into the industry. Of course the learning train never stops and I will need to think about a masters. What I have noticed is that there seems to be a greater need for ME and EE in industry than NE.

With that being said do you think it makes more sense to pursue a masters in mechanical?

I really like the study of two phase flow and thermal hydraulics which seems like a tweener topic anyway.

Also from the career flexibility standpoint how would a MS in NE be viewed to other employers or is a masters a masters.


Side note I am looking at online programs since I will be working while attending school
and I have the following schools programs pretty good but I am looking for comments

Pstate vs NC STate for MS Nuclear

Need a good recs of ME distance learning masters

Thanks in advance

 

[daveb]

Well, a lot depends upon what you want to do (I assume you mean the nuclear industry). An ME or EE will gear you more towards Control Systems work whereas an NE will gear you more towards reactor functionality work. This doesn't mean an ME will keep you from reactor-based work (and vice-versa), it just means you're more apt to find jobs specializing in those areas.

 

[Mr Boom]

I have an MSME and was working with naval reactors (getting PhD now). An interesting tidbit about NE is that most graduates don't want to go into areas like PRA, which also happens to be a high demand area. As a result, a lot of those people have degrees in ME, EE, stats, etc. Most of the thermal modeling folks I know actually have MEs rather than NEs too. I suppose if you want optimize fuel configurations than an NE is a plus, but in general I see a lot of overlap. Much like Aero Eng, NE is a degree created to serve a particular industry. It has a lot of overlap with other degrees. If you know for sure you want to work in the nuke industry, go for it. If you think you'll want to move into something else, maybe ME is a better option. Like daveb said though, it's not like it's going to wall you off from changing your mind. Not all MEs work in thermal and mechanical design, not all EEs work in power disteributon/control, and not all NEs only design fuel pellets.