Regarding Physics and Engineering

[Atreya]

Hi

I'm from Singapore and I'm currently in the state of deciding what to study for my undergrad and postgrad education. I know from my days in high school that I love Physics and Mathematics. I have a natural drive for it and I enjoy solving the abstract problems that make up the subjects. But having worked in my country's army for almost 2 years, I've also become a rather practical person and realized that practicality is necessary to solve most of the world's problems.

My love for abstract thought attracts me to Physics and Mathematics. But ultimately I know I want to benefit the world by doing something large-scale and practical- something that would come out of an engineer. I was considering Chemical Engineering because I feel I can do something about how we manage waste and other unwanted materials- which would be a concern of a chemical engineer in a sense.

One option I'm considering is doing a Bachelor's in Physics in Germany and then a Master's in Chemical Engineering, possibly in Germany too. The good thing about this option is the university where I want to study- the University of Leipzig- offers a physics program in English so I wouldn't have to spend unnecessary time learning German. Also I would get to understand a broad range of physics before specializing in a certain field. The only problem with this is that I'm not sure whether a bachelor's in physics would be sufficient to apply for a master's in CE.

The other option is to go for bachelor's in CE and then a master's in CE. The problem with this is there is no bachelor's course in CE in English language in Germany. To overcome this I'll have to take a gap year just to learn sufficient German. This would delay my already late education.

I hope you guys can offer some input on this. Thanks!

 

[ZapperZ]

There are areas of study where you really don't have to choose (other than a formal declaration on which one you want to go into for formality sake) between doing physics/math and engineering. I've already described one area, accelerator physics.

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=410271

Another area that has a huge overlap between physics and engineering is detector physics.

Both of these fields have relatively larger potential for employment, since such a graduate has skills that are useful in industries as well, not just academia or pure research.

Zz.