<p>I am a rising junior physics major at Iowa State University. In addition to physics, I have a strong interest in chemistry. When I graduate from Iowa State, I am planning to either go to graduate school in material science or join the Navy Nuclear Propulsion Program as a Naval Reactors Engineer. As a Naval Reactors Engineer, I would have to go to school through the Navy and get the equivalent of a masters degree before I could start working as an engineer. To be clear, I would be an officer in the US Navy, but my job would focus more on the engineering side rather than purely being an officer on a submarine. My commitment to the Navy would be 5 years after I complete schooling. </p>
<p>My other option is pursuing a PhD in materials science--I can see myself enjoying this because materials science is a combination of chemistry and physics. My only hesitation is that I'm not sure I want to commit to serving 5+ years in the Navy and then deciding I want to go get a PhD in materials science, a completely different field from nuclear engineering. The plus for the Navy is that being a Naval Reactors Engineer is not a boring desk job, you actually get to work with submarines and do nuclear engineering. In other words, I would not have to do the research that a PhD requires. My question: how much chemistry/ physics is involved in the work of Naval Reactors Engineer?
What would my job prospects be if I did Naval Reactors Engineer vs. PhD in materials science? I do not want to do both. </p>
<p>Wow - talk about different directions!!</p>
<p>On the Navy side, you can expect to spend a heck of a lot of time at sea - last I heard nuke-qualified engineers were in short supply, leading to more frequent deployments than the bulk of the Navy. If you spend that time on a carrier you might have a relatively easy time of it (big ship, frequent port calls), but submarine duty is a long time underwater with tight quarters and the same set of faces day in and day out. When you finally leave (or go reserves) you will be well qualified for civilian jobs in nuclear power and regardless can see some very nice pay, but nuke operations is a 24/7 job so you may find yourself working an oft-inconvenient schedule.</p>
<p>Some things you need to remember about the Navy option: You incur a service obligation no matter what, and if you drop/fail the nuke quals they will enlist you instead. If you change your mind partway through - tough. The recruiting process is different than grad schools, and you may need to make a decision on this before you would even apply for a PhD. If you go the Navy route you could certainly go get a PhD in NukeE later (perhaps while still serving!) but a PhD in MatSci would be much more time consuming.</p>
<p>As to materials science, that depends a lot on your specialty. There are a lot of subfields with a strong industry presence, so you could go that route and work as a research engineer and make some good money with reasonable conditions. With a PhD (and a LOT of work) academia also becomes an option, for just about ANY research specialty.</p>
<p>So what do you WANT to do? </p>
<p>Oh, and:</p>
<p>
Some? It is not a research or design position, it is mostly about management and operation. They try to simplify/streamline things as much as possible.</p>
<p>If doing the research is a minus for you and doing hands-on work with submarines is a plus, as implied by this comment:</p>
<p>The plus for the Navy is that being a Naval Reactors Engineer is not a boring desk job, you actually get to work with submarines and do nuclear engineering. In other words, I would not have to do the research that a PhD requires.</p>
<p>Then go be a naval reactors engineer. If you don’t really want to do research, then getting the PhD is pointless. You’ll have better job opportunities after 5 years with the Navy as an engineer than you’d have with the PhD in materials science (although I don’t think your opportunities would be BAD with the PhD, just that most engineering firms value experience over the PhD unless you want to do research).</p>
<p>Do you REALLY want to be a nuke? You have to be extremely dedicated for that as it’s not easy at all. There is a reason the Navy lets people volunteer to be in submarines rather than outright assign them to subs.</p>