Scope after MS in Mechanical
Scope after MS in Mechanical
(OP)
Hi!!
I was wondering , what is the scope of the career after doing MS in Mechanical (research in Fluids/Energy/thermal) in the energy industry? I mean, what type of job titles are common for the above w/o previus industry experience.
Regards,
T.M.
I was wondering , what is the scope of the career after doing MS in Mechanical (research in Fluids/Energy/thermal) in the energy industry? I mean, what type of job titles are common for the above w/o previus industry experience.
Regards,
T.M.





RE: Scope after MS in Mechanical
There are some of the very biggest consulting firms (Jacobs, Flour, etc.) that value an MSME with no experience, but I've heard they don't pay much for those guys (no personal experience). Sometimes the service companies do some research in fluids (Halliburton, Schlumberger) but the way I understand it someone has to die before there is an opening. The chemical companies like Baker have some lab staff, but they mostly look to the Chem E's.
I'd say that your best bet is downplaying the MS and look for an entry-level Production Engineer or Facilities Engineer role somewhere in this very depressed job market. The few entry level openings that I've heard about this summer are in really really crappy locations (Nigeria, far northern BC, North Dakota, the Gobi Desert).
Your most likely path to success is to obtain the title of "Student" and get your PhD. Then you have some options both in academia and industry. Industry just doesn't seem to value MSME very much at all.
David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering
In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei, Italian Physicist
RE: Scope after MS in Mechanical
T.M.
RE: Scope after MS in Mechanical
David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering
In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei, Italian Physicist
RE: Scope after MS in Mechanical
Thanks once again,
T.M.
RE: Scope after MS in Mechanical
I would counsel against getting a PhD. While I see an MS as an advantage, I've learned to be wary of PhD's with no field experience.
Given the current era of $50 per barrel crude, many in the industry are laying off. But my company is not reducing it's college hiring, and generally speaking a MS is seen as an advantage. Those with an MS typically start at a higher salary, in effect they are one promotion ahead of their BS counterparts. And oil prices are very cyclical. Thus, if you are expecting to graduate with the MSME in a year or two, the hiring scene will likely be better.
As for location of the school... Might matter for your first job if the recruiter has a bias in favor or against, but is irrelevant for the next. My degrees are from two schools which are virtually unknown in the oil business, and I seem to have done alright. Getting an internship would be a good move... and in many cases setting up a summer internship means making contacts in the fall, so don't wait until April to start thinking about that.
RE: Scope after MS in Mechanical
RE: Scope after MS in Mechanical
As to places to get a lot of useful experience very quickly, every one of the places on my list fit that bill. They are all "sink or swim" kinds of places. I spent time in several of those sorts of frontier plays early in my career and wouldn't trade the experience for anything.
David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering
In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei, Italian Physicist
RE: Scope after MS in Mechanical
I'm pretty sure we both have about the same number of years experience in our respective fields, but seriously you are doing the youngsters a disservice by stressing the downsides of northern work sites in USA or Canada. You wont get kidnapped by muslim extremists, if you get injured or ill you are never likely to be much more than a 2 hour chopper ride from world class medical facilities, and if you can prove to yourself and others that you can do it in the north , you'll have no problem doing it... whatever that might be somewhere in the south in 5-7-10 years. And lets be clear, for us Canadians, the Dakotas are down south. If the youngsters in the USA cant hack it, I'm sure there are a bunch of Canadian recent grads who will gladly come down south , and show you all how to do it... especially at $43 oil and the corresponding lack of opportunities elsewhere.
RE: Scope after MS in Mechanical
You just can't keep someone with gumption from displaying it. You also can't get someone looking for the safe path to get on the rocky one. I respond to these kinds of threads for the lurkers. It is like the beginning of Heinlein's Glory Road when the hero shows up for the job interview and Ruffo says "one door is the lady, the other is a tiger, if I tell you which is which you'll call me a liar and take the wrong door, a Hero wouldn't ask and someone who would ask is not a hero" (or something like that, I don't have the book open in front of me).
David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering
In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei, Italian Physicist
RE: Scope after MS in Mechanical
RE: Scope after MS in Mechanical
T.M.