Transitioning from Physics to Bio-mechanical Engineering

[Felix Gonzales]

I know this isn't "EngineeringForums" but I'm curious if anyone has any experience with taking a physics undergrad degree and then studying engineering for their masters. I have a couple engineering friends and the math is basically the same so far, though is there anything I should know? Study? Watch out for? Just looking for tips! And yes I realize bio-mechanical engineering requires a background with biology but I'm already taking care of that part.

 

[Dr.D]

Perhaps the biggest difference you will encounter is one of sense of purpose. Science is about discovering knowledge, that is, knowledge for its own sake. Engineering is about accomplishing useful objectives. If we take a very simple example, consider a simple pendulum. The physicist studies the pendulum to discover just how it works, what laws govern its motion. The engineer may well study the same pendulum, but the motivation is more along the lines of "how can I use this to keep time?" Thus for the same physical system, the engineer and the physicist ask different questions.

On the very practical side, you may find yourself coming up short on specific undergraduate course work such as mechanics of materials, fluid dynamics, engineering kinematics, and thermodynamics of real systems.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

This coin has two sides: how to get admitted to a biomechanical engineering program with a physics degree and how to succeed in a biomechanical engineering program with a physics degree. There tends to be a wide variation in biomechanical engineering advanced degree programs, so rather than give advice that would be geared toward the programs I am most familiar with (that may be much different from yours), my advice is to have a hard look at the programs that are actually of greatest interest to you (and that you have a reasonable shot of admission into.)

The faculty who run those programs can likely look at your coursework and grades so far, together with the remaining course plan for your last two years of undergrad and give much better advice than strangers on the internet who are less familiar with your record and the graduate programs of interest. The outcome of this process might be a suggested list of undergrad engineering courses much like Dr. D suggested, or the suggested list of undergrad engineering courses might be much different. (My wife has a PhD in Biomechanical Engineering, and her suggested course list would be different.)