Physics Or Engineering For Engineering

Q: Which is better, if meaningful, to prepare for an engineering career: Degree in Physics, or Degree in Engineering? Some people study engineering in order to become engineers, and then so become them. Some people for various reasons study physics, and a few of them become engineers. Engineering is the ...?... study of technology to enhance and control an environment and the things in it? Physics is the study of the universe, matter, and energy...? >.... yet one may earn a degree in physics and become an engineer. How then, do employers of engineers view the different degreed graduates? And do physics graduates who become engineers actually had studied several engineering courses before earning their physics degrees? How does the common person understand this?

A: -Although there is the marketability facet . . . I've been a practicing engineering for 17 years (and recently starting teaching physics on the side) for a number of large multi-national companies. I've built and led numerous teams comprised of staff with a multitude of talents. Rightly or wrongly I count myself among what is very likely the clear majority that would favor individuals with engineering degrees from top engineering schools. I can easily see a valid and persuasive intellectual argument that gives air time to applied math or physics backgrounds -- but, believe me, these enlightened points of view aren't often very persistent when it comes to actually hire someone. There's always exceptions though. -If you want to be an engineer, you can't go too far wrong by studying engineering. Some of the coolest things come out of applied physics, though. What do you want to do?

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