<p>One of my friends said that some engineering students are not practical and would do better in research. What do you guys think?
Are graduate students not practical or something? That sounds ridiculous.</p>
<p>Yep, graduate students are pretty much worthless.
(I’m a recovering graduate student, myself. I’ve been off graduate school for years, and kept it off!)</p>
<p>You joking?</p>
<p>I suppose it depends on what you call “practical”. There are, of course, some students that fare very well doing the hands-on work and end up being things like test engineers and do extraordinarily practical things. There are others that tend to excel at the more theoretical side of things and they are probably more likely to end up in graduate school. The good news is, there is a need for both types of engineers and everyone in between.</p>
<p>One person’s theory is another person’s practice, and vice versa.</p>
<p>It would probably depend on the nature of the graduate student’s work. For example, you could be focusing on the theoretical prediction of a certain type of nanostructure, or you could be focusing on the application of said nanostructure to industrial materials. Alternatively, you could be monitoring fluid flows near coastlines, or you could be investigating the effect of waves on coastal structures and levees. Not exactly the best analogies, but the point is engineers can vary in the “distance” of their work from industry, and the “practical” element comes from how “close” the work is to industrial application.</p>