Pure Mathematicians in defense industry

[JG89]

Is there a need for pure mathematicians in the defense industry? I've tried looking online and one of the main requirements is that the person be knowledgeable about mathematics and physics, but this could be talking about mathematicians, physicists, or engineers.

P.S. I don't mean to sound rude, but please spare me any political and moral opinions that you may want to offer.

 

[wildman]

We use a lot of mathematicians in software. I would encourage you to apply. It is fun work.

 

[JG89]

Pure mathematicians or applied mathematicians?

Also, I was planning on getting my phD in pure math. For career options it's between a mathematician doing research, or working in the defense industry, but either way I want the phD in pure math. Is this a problem?

 

[JDGates]

Presumably you're aware that no one will hire you to do pure math in the defense industry. There are some places that will actively look for math PhDs, though, with NSA probably the most prominent. The studies and analysis FFRDCs (RAND, CNA, IDA) also recruit many science/math/engineering PhDs, though not to do work that's anything like academic math.

In the contractor world it's a tougher sell, for obvious reasons. One would probably be best off looking to smaller contracters that have a high proportion of physics and math types to begin with, rather than a big place (Raytheon, Boeing, etc.) that is looking more for specific skills to stick on a project.

 

[wildman]

Presumably you're aware that no one will hire you to do pure math in the defense industry. There are some places that will actively look for math PhDs, though, with NSA probably the most prominent. The studies and analysis FFRDCs (RAND, CNA, IDA) also recruit many science/math/engineering PhDs, though not to do work that's anything like academic math.

In the contractor world it's a tougher sell, for obvious reasons. One would probably be best off looking to smaller contracters that have a high proportion of physics and math types to begin with, rather than a big place (Raytheon, Boeing, etc.) that is looking more for specific skills to stick on a project.

There is a lot of math work to be done in defense. It is of course all applied, but pure math is a good preparation for applied work me thinks.