Opportunities for Opportunities for Talented People with Talented People with Physics Training Physics Training David Toback Department of Physics Texas A&M University Phone: 979-845-1179 E-mail: [email protected]http://faculty.physics.tamu.edu/to Mechanics Scholars Mechanics Scholars Luncheon Luncheon Texas A&M University Texas A&M University
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Opportunities for Talented People with Physics Training David Toback Department of Physics Texas A&M University Phone: 979-845-1179 E-mail: [email protected].
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Opportunities for Opportunities for Talented People with Talented People with
Physics TrainingPhysics Training
David TobackDepartment of PhysicsTexas A&M University
Mechanics Scholars LuncheonMechanics Scholars LuncheonTexas A&M UniversityTexas A&M University
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Good news and Good news and Bad newsBad news
Good news– You have been identified as being in the top
2% of all physics performers in Physics 218– You get a free lunch
Bad news: – You clearly have the talent and the “right
stuff” to get further training in physics– You have to listen to me give a pitch on why
you should take advantage of the significant opportunities available to you if you continue with training in physics
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OutlineOutline
We asked you if you had questions…What were your questions and comments?Answers to your questionsAnswers to questions you didn’t even know
you wanted the answer to
Warning: This may be more Warning: This may be more blunt than you wanted…blunt than you wanted…
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Your questions & Your questions & CommentsComments
All the comments/questions centered around some common myths:
1. Job: If you have a physics degree, you can either be a professor or a high-
school teacher. Right? The only thing you can do with a physics degree is research in physics.
Right? There are no jobs for people with a physics degree
2. Money: The salaries for people with physics degrees aren’t good
3. Uhmm… Is it any fun? What do professors DO anyway? I’ve heard about some cool physics things but they aren’t relevant to the
“real world” The cool stuff isn’t covered in any of the classes What are the research areas?
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Let’s talk Jobs and Money first since, frankly, I think that is what most of you would need to hear about anyway before we get to any of the other stuff…
After I’ve convinced you not to worry, then we can talk about the fun stuff…
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High School Teacher or High School Teacher or a Professor only? No!a Professor only? No!
Whoever told you that had no clue!
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No jobs?No jobs?
Let’s get this straight…the unemployment rate for people with physics degrees is historically below 2% which is well below the national average
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Ok… what kind Ok… what kind of job?of job?
Depends on what kind of degree you get… let’s do them one at a time:–Bachelors–Ph.D.
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Ok… Lets Ok… Lets say I get a say I get a bachelors… bachelors… then what?then what?
Most people Most people go on to get go on to get advanced advanced degrees, degrees, but many but many get jobs get jobs right out of right out of collegecollege
Highest degree attained by physics bachelors 5 to 8 years after
graduation
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Ok… What Ok… What do they do do they do with their with their bachelors bachelors degree?degree?
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Who’s going to hire me?Who’s going to hire me?Companies hiring people with physics Companies hiring people with physics
degrees degrees in Texasin TexasAdvanced Micro DevicesAlcatelAllstate Insurance CompanyAlpha Sim Technology, Inc.Avant! CorporationBall Semiconductor, Inc.Boral Material TechnologiesCamp, Dresser & McKeeCompaq ComputerControl Systems InternationalCypress SemiconductorDRS Technologies, Inc.Fairfield IndustriesHelena Laboratories CorporationInsurdataKellogg, Brown & RootKelly Scientific ResourcesLaw Office of Robert SwaffordLitton-TASC, Inc.
Interested in a physics degree? Minor? Double major? Applied physics?Pick up a Department Brochurehttp://www.physics.tamu.edu/Contact the undergraduate advisors:
• Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) and CMS at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN
•High energy frontier; Big toys
•Searching for Supersymmetry, the Higgs boson
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Applied Physics at Applied Physics at Texas A&MTexas A&M
Physics is crucial to many important advances Computing (classical and quantum) DNA sequencing and other biotech areas Laser Remote Sensing Magnetic Devices and Data Storage Nanotechnology and Sensing Optical Technology Superconductivity (low Tc and high Tc)
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Fluorescence from Fluorescence from laser cooled ionslaser cooled ions
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The CyclotronThe Cyclotron
One of two University based Cyclotrons in the US
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““Slow Light”Slow Light”Welch: Group Velocity of Light can be reduced