The Student Room Group

Engineering Physics? Does it exist?

Hi,

I really like Physics and would like to research within particle physics after my undergraduate. However I would like to get an Engineering degree so my question is if it's possible to combine the two? I have looked for it but all I can find is chemical and biological engineering... can someone help me??
Original post by ellectron
Hi,

I really like Physics and would like to research within particle physics after my undergraduate. However I would like to get an Engineering degree so my question is if it's possible to combine the two? I have looked for it but all I can find is chemical and biological engineering... can someone help me??


I'm not aware of any 'engineering physics' courses. Sounds more like an A-Level physics module.

Particle physics research isn't going to follow on from an engineering degree. They are different areas of study.

The only crossovers I can think of are engineering of particle accelerators (seems like a very specific research area) or a mech eng course with nuclear physics, which I think that Imperial might do.

You're sure that you want to study engineering, not physics?
Original post by AHappyStudent
I'm not aware of any 'engineering physics' courses. Sounds more like an A-Level physics module.

Particle physics research isn't going to follow on from an engineering degree. They are different areas of study.

The only crossovers I can think of are engineering of particle accelerators (seems like a very specific research area) or a mech eng course with nuclear physics, which I think that Imperial might do.

You're sure that you want to study engineering, not physics?


Sorry but this isn't true at all.

look at CERN for example, they have teams of theorists as well as teams of engineers.
Original post by ScienceGeek1878
Sorry but this isn't true at all.

look at CERN for example, they have teams of theorists as well as teams of engineers.


I did mention engineering of particle accelerators
Original post by AHappyStudent
I did mention engineering of particle accelerators


What I mean is they are not completely different areas of study, an engineering degree can lead to particle research jobs
Reply 5
Study mechanical engineering as a degree, and study particle physics in your free time. You might be able to attend some Physics lectures if you get in contact with your Uni about it, I know someone who does that at mine (Uni of Bath).
Original post by ScienceGeek1878
What I mean is they are not completely different areas of study, an engineering degree can lead to particle research jobs


Again, I mentioned this as an exception to "different areas of study". I'd call Physics and Biology different areas of study, but I know that they can still have plenty of crossovers.

Not sure why you are trying to correct me when I specified your exact point in my original post
Original post by ellectron
Hi,

I really like Physics and would like to research within particle physics after my undergraduate. However I would like to get an Engineering degree so my question is if it's possible to combine the two? I have looked for it but all I can find is chemical and biological engineering... can someone help me??


You won't study particle physics in an engineering degree, and if your goal is to research particle physics then an engineering degree wouldn't be the best degree to study at undergrad anyway.

Engineering physics as a degree does exist, though:

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/a-z/engineering-physics-bsc/

Might be some particle physics in that, check the modules.

There also exists an engineering maths degree:

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/2018/engineering-maths/meng-eng-maths/

Although if your aim is to research particle physics, I would recommend you study physics (or something closely related) at undergrad.
(edited 5 years ago)
Reply 8
Original post by ellectron
Hi,

I really like Physics and would like to research within particle physics after my undergraduate.


Then study Physics.

If you are still interested in engineering afterward you complete your BSc you can do an MSc in Engineering. It's easier to move into engineering with a Physics degree than the other way round.

Posted from TSR Mobile
(edited 5 years ago)
I would note, Chemical Engineering and Biological Engineering are not "Engineering and Chemistry" nor "Engineering and Biology". They are specific fields of their own, and are actually somewhat different to most other engineering disciplines at that.

While I knew of the Bristol course above linked above, the L'boro one is news to me but maybe unsurprising given their emphases in subject areas - both are also very good universities generally for those STEM areas so neither is a bad option. Generally though "Engineering Physics" exists but is more of a US thing than a UK one. If you are interested in both Engineering and Physics, there are some other routes than an Engineering Physics degree however:

As indicated above, you can start Physics undergrad course then an engineering masters (or PhD - many of my EE lecturers were originally Physicists) - there are a few "conversion" type masters which also satisfy the academic requirements of the CEng without further qualification (otherwise you would probably satisfy them but might need to submit some documentation confirming you've met those requirements between your physics and engineering backgrounds). You could also take some relevant modules as optional modules along the way to getting your Physics degree - it wasn't that uncommon to occasionally get Physics students taking Solid Mechanics or one of the electronics modules at Exeter when I was there. If you aren't so concerned about time frame, then you could get first (i.e. undergraduate) degrees in each area. Currently, SFE provides funding for part time second degrees in STEM fields - this includes many engineering and related courses. It might also include Physics, although the only Physics degree that is routinely offered as part time as opposed to in an ad hoc fashion is at the OU to my knowledge.

You can do a first degree in engineering and then go into Physics, however this more or less restricts you to Electronic/Electrical Engineering or Materials Science/Engineering degrees for the first degree, as those are the only engineering disciplines routinely accepted for Physics masters (UCL and Imperial both specifically note EE is acceptable for their Physics MSc courses). Alternately you could also do a first degree in Engineering and take some optional modules in Physics in the course of getting that degree - however there are issues with prerequisites, timetabling, whether the Physics department will accept that, and also in the fact that often optional modules are heavily limited on engineering courses due to core module requirements, and due to accreditation purposes you can often only take one or two such modules "external" to your main department or engineering more broadly.

Alternatively you could also do Maths, which in an appropriate course offering a range of applied mathematics and/or theoretical physics options if often a suitable background to go into either and/or both. You could do an undergraduate course in Maths, taking the AM/TP options where applicable/possible (although there are plenty of purer options in analysis that would be very relevant, or maybe Lie groups on the algebra side), then a masters in say Physics and a PhD in Engineering. There are also many more options for joint courses between Maths and either Engineering or Physics, which would often suffice to go into the third area (perhaps even better than just doing one of the two latter subjects), compared to between Physics and Engineering. That said, if you aren't keen on Maths and balk at the prospect of having to write a proof for any of the calculus and differential equations you'd be using to solve problems in engineering/physics contexts, it's probably not a great idea.

I would note as far as working in the engineering sector is concerned, you needn't necessarily have an engineering degree - some roles may require it, and some sectors may be more likely to need it than others, but there are quite a few roles where a general numerate, physical sciences background would be sufficient to start off with. In terms of doing engineering work on particle accelerators, this does happen but bear in mind there aren't exactly a lot of those so inevitably it's not something you're going to specialise in at the undergraduate level, or even at masters level - maybe in a PhD project. However you don't need a PhD to work at e.g. CERN in their engineering areas. Typically an EE degree would be the most relevant background, although a general engineering course or a mechanical/aerospace course with a reasonable amount of electronics coverage might be suitable (although I think you would really need that plus the EM wave/field content more typical from an EE course or a Physics degree)...materials backgrounds may also lend themselves to some elements of particle accelerator engineering, but this is likely on the research side of things.
(edited 5 years ago)
Loughborough, Heriot-Watt and Aberystwyth unis offer Engineering Physics courses.
If you want to build things like reactors, particle accelerators you have to do Engineering degree and get Chartered. If you want to run and design experiments Ph.D in Physics is the way to go.
Original post by ellectron
Hi,

I really like Physics and would like to research within particle physics after my undergraduate. However I would like to get an Engineering degree so my question is if it's possible to combine the two? I have looked for it but all I can find is chemical and biological engineering... can someone help me??
Original post by AHappyStudent
I'm not aware of any 'engineering physics' courses. Sounds more like an A-Level physics module.

Particle physics research isn't going to follow on from an engineering degree. They are different areas of study.

The only crossovers I can think of are engineering of particle accelerators (seems like a very specific research area) or a mech eng course with nuclear physics, which I think that Imperial might do.

You're sure that you want to study engineering, not physics?


It sounded like a module to me too
I say just do a physics degree, you can easily get into that type of engineering which focuses on physics with a physics degree.
I believe the University of Loughbrough has a course called Engineering Physics but it might be tapered more to Physics than Engineering.

Quick Reply

Latest