Dear all,
I am about to do a PhD in the composite field. It is about the residual stress induced by the fabrication process.
But I would like to know if this domain is very interesting or not. Because if I do the PhD it is to find a good job later. So I want to know if this field has many oulets or not.
Regards
Diambar
On the basis of my experience, it is worth only if your future will be in R&D dept. as scientist/researcher. The topic is very specific and, in my opinion, of interest in a very limited number of companies ( aerospace mainly…).
Then, let be honest….there are so many topics still open in the field of stress analysis, fatigue and damage ,manufacturing processes ,that to add further complexity (from industrial viewpoint) seems to have poor practical interest.
Like Wings said, only for academic and scientist positions.
In the US some companies will even go out of their way not to hire engineers with PhDs since they tend to be too analytical and not practical enough. The sweet spot is a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering and then a masters in a specific discipline.
And as far as foreigners with PhDs in the U.S… way too many already. Especially from India. So you chances of finding a very high paying job aren’t as good as they use to be. And the foreigners get pushed extremely hard, like expected 80 hour work weeks, since the employers know that if the foreigner gets fired or quits they will lose their visa.
I’m actually asking myself similar questions to you right now. I’ve been accepted to a materials science PhD program as well and in all likelihood my thesis will concern one of the many unanswered questions in composites.
While it is fun to experiment and learn new things, I’m not convinced of the market value of a PhD.
That being said I think your thesis is extremely interesting.