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PhD Scholarship

Natasha Pitts
Hi Everyone,


I have a conundrum. I am a time served engineer having spent the last 10 years in industry. (albeit 2 of these were an advanced apprenticeship and 3 were a higher apprenticeship). I have studied part time for the following a foundation degree in electrical & electronic engineering, BEng(Hons) in electrical & electronic engineering and I am in the final year of my MSc in Power Distribution Engineering.

My main day to day job role involves electrical design of UPS and DC charger systems. I have been doing this for the last 7 years having finished my apprenticeship rotation and settling into the electrical design department.

I recently applied for a PhD scholarship to study wind energy and the environment and have been successfully offered a scholarship, as I found the list of projects intriguing and interesting as well as something I would like to be involved with.

My conundrum is whether doing the PhD will provide me with any advantage long term job wise? could it be seen as too higher level for most design roles?The PhD would be done part time and take approximately 6 years. The first two will be a PGDip. One of my reasons to pursue the PhD is mainly my own interests and also the fact the experience I have with power converters in industry can contribute to research in the renewables energy sector.


What are the thoughts on a PhD and ensuring job security?


Thank you
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    Hi Natasha,


    What a good question. And I think you've probably given the important answer it in your second from last sentence "One of my reasons..." In my experience job security in engineering comes from having a genuine interest and enthusiasm for the subject, which in turn means you have the drive to keep developing and up to date. Some people with that drive and enthusiasm get the urge to go through formal study and research, some decide to express it through day to day "industry" activities, both are effective.


    Turning it around, what doesn't seem to work is to follow any particular path "because it will give me a good career". The joy of the engineering profession is that any path can lead to a successful career (however you measure success), the flip side is that therefore no path guarantees an advantage.


    SO if you think you are going to enjoy a PhD then definitely do it, with good supervisors it should give an excellent link to key contacts in the industry, and will give you expertise and credibility in a specific area of the subject. But be prepared that the primary point of a PhD is to demonstrate that you are able to undertake original research in structured way (the research itself is, to some extent, a means to that end). Some people find this frustrating, others find it liberating to have the chance to "think about how you think about things" (it's not called a Doctor of Philosophy for nothing!).


    Re "could it be seen as too higher level for most design roles?": the cutting edge - i.e. really interesting! - design roles are at PhD level (even though most design engineers don't have PhDs). Since you show strong industrial experience as well you would be in a very nice position.


    So personally I think the biggest decision is probably to look at the PhD "world" and think whether that's a world you'll enjoy being in for 6 years. If you think you'll enjoy that, then if it does lead somewhere that's a bonus, and if it doesn't (i.e you end up where you would have done anyway) you'll still have had a really interesting time to look back on.


    Good luck,


    Andy
Reply
  • 0
    Hi Natasha,


    What a good question. And I think you've probably given the important answer it in your second from last sentence "One of my reasons..." In my experience job security in engineering comes from having a genuine interest and enthusiasm for the subject, which in turn means you have the drive to keep developing and up to date. Some people with that drive and enthusiasm get the urge to go through formal study and research, some decide to express it through day to day "industry" activities, both are effective.


    Turning it around, what doesn't seem to work is to follow any particular path "because it will give me a good career". The joy of the engineering profession is that any path can lead to a successful career (however you measure success), the flip side is that therefore no path guarantees an advantage.


    SO if you think you are going to enjoy a PhD then definitely do it, with good supervisors it should give an excellent link to key contacts in the industry, and will give you expertise and credibility in a specific area of the subject. But be prepared that the primary point of a PhD is to demonstrate that you are able to undertake original research in structured way (the research itself is, to some extent, a means to that end). Some people find this frustrating, others find it liberating to have the chance to "think about how you think about things" (it's not called a Doctor of Philosophy for nothing!).


    Re "could it be seen as too higher level for most design roles?": the cutting edge - i.e. really interesting! - design roles are at PhD level (even though most design engineers don't have PhDs). Since you show strong industrial experience as well you would be in a very nice position.


    So personally I think the biggest decision is probably to look at the PhD "world" and think whether that's a world you'll enjoy being in for 6 years. If you think you'll enjoy that, then if it does lead somewhere that's a bonus, and if it doesn't (i.e you end up where you would have done anyway) you'll still have had a really interesting time to look back on.


    Good luck,


    Andy
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