What kind of engineer would a physicist be?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1 
 I'm gonna keep this thread simple. If someone graduating with a bachelors in physics is interested in working as an engineer, which engineering discipline would they be most qualified to work in?  I am assuming mechanical, electrical, or chemical, but is one more practical than the other?
2

Hopefully more experienced posters can answer, but…is it none of the above?? You will not have covered the same information as engineering majors.

3

I know it is not ideal, if you want to be an engineer you should go to school for…engineering. I just have heard that a decent amount of physics students (but not the majority) that finish their education with a BS end up doing engineering work.

4

I haven’t heard that, and I’ve been in engineering a long time.

5

I’ve seen that of the physicists that work in engineering roles, it’s usually in electrical/computer roles. There is a reasonably strong overlap between EE and physics.

But in general, if you want to be an engineer then get an engineering degree.

6

I’ve talked with a guy before that works with an electrical engineer at SpaceX who graduated with a degree in physics. I’ve researched the same thing because I originally wanted to do physics as well and the general consensus that I saw was that it is not ideal (clearly an engineer would have an engineering degree) but that it is not uncommon for someone with a physics degree to get into engineering. Which discipline probably depends on the electives you take, but I would think either EE or something involving computer electronics or something. You also may need to know somebody that can help you get that initial job.

7

I know a couple of guys who have undergraduate degrees in physics. They both have graduate degrees … one in physics and one in systems engineering.
They are both basically doing systems engineering work, one with more of a computer engineering slant and the other more of a management direction.

So, I’d think systems engineering is achievable.

I’ve long thought that a background strong in math, physics, and computer science (algorithms & data structures particularly) would be very useful in embedded control systems.

8

I know a few physicists who work as electrical engineers, if that helps. Unsurprisingly, they tend to work in areas where the physics are the toughest issue, which limits their career options a little, but overall they seem to do well.