How a Ph.D. in Physics Can Prepare Students for an

Industrial Career

Shirley ChiangProfessor and Chair

Department of PhysicsUniversity of California, Davis

My Industrial Experience

• Summer Research Associate,

Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ

Summers 1975-77• Research Staff Member

IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, CA

1983 - 1994.

Skills of a Physics Ph.D. Which are Valued by Industry

• Problem-solving ability• Ability to adapt and learn new topics, new skills• Designing, building, and repairing equipment

– Mechanical, vacuum, plumbing, cryogenics, electronics

• Learning how to operate new, state-of-the art equipment• Mathematical and computer modeling• Experience with computer programming, computer

interfacing, computerized data acquisition• Experience with data analysis – statistics, making

models, fitting experimental data, image processing• Interdisciplinary experience• Ability to work with a team• Ability to communicate results, both oral and written

– Internal reports, talks, presentations for management, conferences, papers

Why I took an industrial job; Why your students may want one

• Summer jobs at Bell Labs convinced me industrial research was interesting

• I wanted to do the research myself, not just supervise other people doing research

• Relatively easy to get research funding—e.g., 2 page proposal and talk for managers

• I obtained a permanent staff position at IBM San Jose, without postdoctoral experience

• Didn’t have to worry about moving after postdoc or obtaining tenure

• “Two-body problem” only needed to be solved once– Places like Silicon Valley have lots of companies

• When I went to IBM, people went there for a whole career; – Nowadays, industry doesn’t have job security; people often move to a

different company every few years, especially if they work at startups• Higher salary than academics

Problems with Industrial Jobs

• Industry is now more focused on applied research• Industrial research may have very short time line

– Needs to affect the company’s bottom line soon (e.g., few months instead of years)

• Difficult to go back to academics– May not have suitable publication record

• Process engineers may need to be on call• Your direct manager controls what you can do• “Old boys club” may operate when resources became constrained.• Difficulty in getting a hiring manager to look seriously at a Physics

Ph.D. instead of an engineer– Some managers do seek Physics Ph.D’s (if they have hired

them before or have a Physics Ph.D. themselves)

Questions for Discussion

• Should we change graduate education for those who don’t want an academic career? (No)

• Are the following experiences useful for industrial jobs?– Industrial internship– Business and entrepreneurial courses, jobs,

experience– M.S. in Engineering, MBA