Engineering Physicist or Mechanical Engineer?

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SUMMARY

The discussion compares the benefits of pursuing a career as a physicist versus a mechanical engineer. A physicist typically holds a doctoral degree and focuses on academic research, while mechanical engineering offers broader employment opportunities with a bachelor's degree. Mechanical engineers are primarily engaged in industry, focusing on design, production, and testing, often with a goal of profitability. The conversation highlights that mechanical engineering has a larger workforce and emphasizes problem-solving within budget and time constraints.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of academic qualifications in physics and engineering
  • Familiarity with the job market for physicists and mechanical engineers
  • Knowledge of engineering principles and applied disciplines
  • Awareness of industry standards and constraints in engineering projects
NEXT STEPS
  • Research career paths and job opportunities for physicists and mechanical engineers
  • Explore the differences in educational requirements between physics and mechanical engineering
  • Learn about the various sub-specialties within mechanical engineering
  • Investigate problem-solving techniques in engineering under budget and time constraints
USEFUL FOR

Students considering careers in science and engineering, professionals evaluating job opportunities, and educators guiding students in their career choices.

David Timothy
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Can anyone please tell me the benefits being a physicist or being Mechanical Engineer?
 
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You'll benefit from mechanical engineering if you like mechanical engineering, and vice versa.
 
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Maybe better number of employment positions for the mechanical engineer?
 
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David Timothy said:
Can anyone please tell me the benefits being a physicist or being Mechanical Engineer?
This is a really broad question, so I will give a broad answer. In general, a physicist per se has a doctoral degree and quite a bit of specialization. This field largely has an academic focus, although many physicists work in industry as well, but often doing very different things than their academic counterparts.
Mechanical engineering is a very broad field with many sub-specialties. Many mechanical engineers can find employment with a bachelor's degree alone, although different kinds of opportunities may be available with graduate degrees. The focus here is on industry/business. Engineering is an applied discipline, the idea is to design stuff, make stuff, or test stuff, with the overall goal of making money. In absolute terms, there are many, many more people in this field than in physics.
 
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Ben Espen said:
This is a really broad question, so I will give a broad answer. In general, a physicist per se has a doctoral degree and quite a bit of specialization. This field largely has an academic focus, although many physicists work in industry as well, but often doing very different things than their academic counterparts.
Mechanical engineering is a very broad field with many sub-specialties. Many mechanical engineers can find employment with a bachelor's degree alone, although different kinds of opportunities may be available with graduate degrees. The focus here is on industry/business. Engineering is an applied discipline, the idea is to design stuff, make stuff, or test stuff, with the overall goal of making money. In absolute terms, there are many, many more people in this field than in physics.

axmls said:
You'll benefit from mechanical engineering if you like mechanical engineering, and vice versa.

symbolipoint said:
Maybe better number of employment positions for the mechanical engineer?

Thanks guys, really helps me
 
While there are a lot of parallels in topic materials, engineering is mostly about "solving problems" while under the constraint of budgets and deadlines. Experienced engineers have learned the skills to know which corners can be cut and which design compromises can be made to achieve the (usually) conflicting priorities of budgets & deadlines. There's an old graphic used as a joke, a triangle with words at each vertex (paraphrasing here, but you'll get the essence): quality, time, budget...pick any two.
 
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For some background, I'm currently a 3rd year physics major with an astro specialization studying in Canada, and as undergraduates are want to do I'm regularly evaluating my career prospects down the road. I also plan on pursuing grad school when I've completed my degree. It might just be my anxiety acting up a little, but with a lot of the government funding drying up for public science research broadly in the US, the 'industry' everyone keeps talking about when questions like this are...

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