A Best of Physics list, please

September 29, 2005 9:10 AM

What are the coolest things to work with as a physicist/engineer?

I will soon receive my MSc degree in physics. Where should I send my resume?

Suggestions from scientists are of course highly valued, but if you just saw something on Discovery and thought "If I was a physicist, that's what I'd do!", please tell me. I am currently based in Europe and specialized in nanoscale things, with experience as a consultant in test and measurement. However, this is a brainstorming session, and all suggestions are welcome.

posted by springload to science & nature (21 comments total)

Spacecraft are the coolest thing to work with, in this engineer's opinion. How about sending your resume to ESA?

But more importantly, what do you want to do, and where do you want to do it?
posted by Fat Guy at 9:18 AM on September 29, 2005

With the current fossil fuel situation, I would go into alternative energy research...I find that field to be fascinating and very necessary...Unfortunately, I'm only a lowly civil engineer and not nearly smart enough to tackle that big a brain teaser
posted by unccivil at 9:26 AM on September 29, 2005

I prefer working with radioactive materials, and your test and measurement background would fit right in.
posted by mischief at 9:27 AM on September 29, 2005

Defense or not defense, that is the question. Many of the really high tech and "cool" technologies are unfortunately in the defense industry. Some people have no problem with that, but it is something to think about. You might be designing probes for NASA this year, and get redeployed to designing ICBMs next year. I think medical technology is some of the most interesting around and you can generally feel pretty good about what you are doing too.
posted by caddis at 9:28 AM on September 29, 2005

Well you can't beat rocket science for fire and noise (ugh ugh), but it's mostly an engineering discipline, rather than physics at this point.

What kind of job are you looking for?

Research? - Perhaps one of the big European labs. ie CERN , ITER? Lots of work in climate research too what with Kyoto.

Product Design? - Lots of work for physicists who specialize in material science in the automotive and aerospace sector. The electronic chip manufacturers also have labs full of physicists trying to stuff more transistors in a smaller space. Also the Nuclear industry (in France: Framatome ) is gearing up to address global warming.

More testing? - Any one of a thousand consulting companies. The bonus is you get to pick your city.

Teaching? - High School, or University?

Science Journalism?
posted by Popular Ethics at 9:36 AM on September 29, 2005

Well, Fat Guy, I hope for responses such as yours and everybody else's so far, as well as "I read about this little company that tries to do X, which seems cool". And I will think "That does indeed sound cool, and while their lab is on Easter Island, I might find someone doing this in my neighbourhood". Someone else might say "Get a PhD at any cost, for this and that reason". I want general input to base my own thinking on. Startup-scale, high-tech companies are nice but not at all required.
posted by springload at 9:40 AM on September 29, 2005

I should should add that I'm more of an experimentalist than a theorist, though I like to do software construction, including numerical simulations. Some theory is fine, but there should preferrably also be technical gadgets involved.
posted by springload at 10:01 AM on September 29, 2005

Without question the absolutely coolest place to work as a physicist right now.
posted by lazy-ville at 10:04 AM on September 29, 2005

A skunk works-type place.
posted by shoos at 11:27 AM on September 29, 2005

Build a space elevator?
posted by mbrubeck at 11:54 AM on September 29, 2005

Go to the websites of companies that build high-speed computing solutions (ADI, Cray, etc.) and look for who their customers are. Those customers will be doing very interesting stuff.
posted by forrest at 12:01 PM on September 29, 2005

A few random ideas:

Proton Therapy
Applied Biophysics
Biophysics Honours Projects 2003
Nanotechnology in Medicine
Nanotechnology in medicine company directory
posted by caddis at 12:16 PM on September 29, 2005

I recently met a guy who's a nuclear physicist. Right now, he's in Antarctica, studying, like, the atmosphere or something. For fun, he blows shit up. Both of those are, in my opinion, pretty cool.
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:24 PM on September 29, 2005

I take it you also saw fenriq's post this evening.
posted by caddis at 4:40 PM on September 29, 2005

Cognitive neuroscience.
posted by Wet Spot at 5:21 PM on September 29, 2005

If I were a physicist, I think it would be cool as hell to work on the LISA project. Also, and a bit more closely related both to my field (chemistry) and your nanotech background, single-electron transistors are pretty interesting.
posted by solotoro at 5:27 PM on September 29, 2005

Nanotech, and test and measurement, huh?

How about applying nanotech to audio measurement, pro audio, musical instrument, and audiophile gear?

I like audio...
posted by ZenMasterThis at 6:43 PM on September 29, 2005

These guys are cool.
posted by Kwantsar at 8:27 PM on September 29, 2005

springload - after 4 years in the job market with a B.Sc. in physics, i have decided to return to school and get a Ph.D.

it is next to impossible to find cool, interesting work in physics with a bachelor's degree. i am not sure about what it's like with a master's; your qualifications may be better than mine were too, so perhaps you'd have a better time at it. hard to say.

i worked at SLAC until june of this year in the accelerator operations group. this is big science, and if you like huge, expensive projects, it's a good place for you. it was for me a good place to learn but i felt like a cog in a machine - and ultimately the science was not something i was interested in.

that said they are embarking on a new program of ultrashort x-ray science; with your experience in nano- you could serve as a liaison between experimenters and accelerator people. if you are interested let me know since i know people.

my impression (confirmed by my experience at SLAC) is that in order to have any kind of control over the direction of research that you do, a doctorate is necessary. (otherwise you can apply for a lower-level assistant kind of job and hope you make a good enough impression and work extra hard to be promoted to something better if you're lucky.) but that's why i'm going back to school -- i cannot say if this is the right thing for you.

of course, all of this is experience from an american perspective - as a european it may be totally different for you.

anyway, best of luck.
posted by sergeant sandwich at 9:09 PM on September 29, 2005

uncivil: it is of course well known to all civil engineers that the solution to all the world's problems is more concrete :)

/derail
posted by flabdablet at 10:20 AM on September 30, 2005

This is just the kind of thread I was hoping for. Thanks everyone for contributing! There can't really be a best answer to a question like this, so I won't assign one.

solotoro: Funny you mention Single electron transistors. That's the route I'm on, and will continue as a PhD student unless I take a turn in some other direction. They are rather cool, conceptually as well as literally (operating at ~0.05 kelvin).

Please keep submitting if you have further suggestions. I will monitor the thread until it closes.
posted by springload at 2:25 AM on October 1, 2005