- #1
Myskellos
- 2
- 2
Hi everyone, I'm new here but I've come across PF many times as viewer while searching for clarifications and exercise solutions.
I think this should be the right place to ask for advice.
My background: 30-ish years old, got my BSc and MS in Electrical Engineering in 2017. The courses were mostly on power analysis, motor control, power grid analysis, power electronics etc.
Now I'm working since 5 years as power electronics engineer in a company that design and produces power converter (high current/high voltage or both) for customer-tailored solution, mostly physics laboratories dealing with nuclear fusion experimenting, particle accelerators, superconductive magnets test bench.
I really like the job for several reasons, being:
- get involved in cool projects with skilled people across the world
- I like the power electronics field
- not much people here in Italy are in the field, so you don't have ton on competition and salary it's quite good, even for junior people
- I feel appreciated by customer and my supervisors and colleagues.
The cons of the job are:
- sometimes I feel like not challenged by the project, most of the time the architecture of the converter is always the same and you must to the same calculation over and over again;
- not much RnD going on in the company, I would say zero at all
- while the technical side it's cool, you also find yourself scrolling pages and pages of standards (IEC, UL, whatever) which for sure are helpful and necessary, but not exciting.
Since childhood I was always fascinated by the inner-working of things and by the universe.
I attended a technical high-school, that gave me a weak foundation of physics and math (this was the main reason of why I did not choose physics at Uni)
in fact, I struggled the first year of BSc with calculus, physics and algebra. Nonetheless hard work and many days spent in the library got me through these subjects and got the max vote on calculus II (vectorial analysis). Nowadays probably I won't be able to solve a ODE, since I've not used much math in my daily job.
Recently I visited a customer that showed us a tokamak and I was like a kid in Disneyland, it really sparked again my curiosity on physics.
So I'm thinking if it's worth to get a BSc (eventually MS, who knows) in physics and if it's really feasible while working full-time (5 days/week, 8-9 hours).
On one hand I really like the idea of spending hours solving physics exercises and acquire the true meaning of equations, behind the formalism (for instance, I loved the electromagnetism part).
On the other hand, I fear that I'm overestimating this passion and my willpower. I know for sure that 'self-study' just for fun won't work, I need some clear deadlines, clear goals, feel to be challenged.
Last but not the least, I have a mortgage so I cannot afford, for the moment, any pause from working to focus on study.
The bottom line of the post is:
- Do you think it is worth to get a second degree?
- Is realistic to get good physics knowledge by studying a few hours per day? I don't want to deceive myself, I think it's quite difficult and for sure, it will take at least double the normal time.
- What would you in my situation?
- Apart for the sake of knowledge, do you think I can benefit of this studies in my field?
Sorry for the length and thanks in advance to anyone who will reply.
Best regards !
I think this should be the right place to ask for advice.
My background: 30-ish years old, got my BSc and MS in Electrical Engineering in 2017. The courses were mostly on power analysis, motor control, power grid analysis, power electronics etc.
Now I'm working since 5 years as power electronics engineer in a company that design and produces power converter (high current/high voltage or both) for customer-tailored solution, mostly physics laboratories dealing with nuclear fusion experimenting, particle accelerators, superconductive magnets test bench.
I really like the job for several reasons, being:
- get involved in cool projects with skilled people across the world
- I like the power electronics field
- not much people here in Italy are in the field, so you don't have ton on competition and salary it's quite good, even for junior people
- I feel appreciated by customer and my supervisors and colleagues.
The cons of the job are:
- sometimes I feel like not challenged by the project, most of the time the architecture of the converter is always the same and you must to the same calculation over and over again;
- not much RnD going on in the company, I would say zero at all
- while the technical side it's cool, you also find yourself scrolling pages and pages of standards (IEC, UL, whatever) which for sure are helpful and necessary, but not exciting.
Since childhood I was always fascinated by the inner-working of things and by the universe.
I attended a technical high-school, that gave me a weak foundation of physics and math (this was the main reason of why I did not choose physics at Uni)
in fact, I struggled the first year of BSc with calculus, physics and algebra. Nonetheless hard work and many days spent in the library got me through these subjects and got the max vote on calculus II (vectorial analysis). Nowadays probably I won't be able to solve a ODE, since I've not used much math in my daily job.
Recently I visited a customer that showed us a tokamak and I was like a kid in Disneyland, it really sparked again my curiosity on physics.
So I'm thinking if it's worth to get a BSc (eventually MS, who knows) in physics and if it's really feasible while working full-time (5 days/week, 8-9 hours).
On one hand I really like the idea of spending hours solving physics exercises and acquire the true meaning of equations, behind the formalism (for instance, I loved the electromagnetism part).
On the other hand, I fear that I'm overestimating this passion and my willpower. I know for sure that 'self-study' just for fun won't work, I need some clear deadlines, clear goals, feel to be challenged.
Last but not the least, I have a mortgage so I cannot afford, for the moment, any pause from working to focus on study.
The bottom line of the post is:
- Do you think it is worth to get a second degree?
- Is realistic to get good physics knowledge by studying a few hours per day? I don't want to deceive myself, I think it's quite difficult and for sure, it will take at least double the normal time.
- What would you in my situation?
- Apart for the sake of knowledge, do you think I can benefit of this studies in my field?
Sorry for the length and thanks in advance to anyone who will reply.
Best regards !
