Hello,

I am a master's student at Drexel University and my master's research has been completely focussed on CFD. I want to make a career in CFD.

Most of the companies are looking for experienced (>5 years) CFD engineers. If CFD experts can guide neophyte like me with some tips on job search, giving some info on what type of companies to aim , it would be of great help. I am looking for job in US.

Thanks,

Sanks

did you have any industrial partners supporting your master reasearch ? if yes be in contact with them, if not, think about doing a PhD.

It was really discouraging reply ... is the scene in job market this bad for a CFD engineer havibg Master's degree ?

Sanks

things are not discouraging, you will eventually find a job. but mostly you can not walk to a company and say i am going to work here from tommorow. the thing is its difficult to get a job without experience.

best of luck anyway.

I wonder how candid people are going to be on this forum about letting you know places to find cfd-jobs, given that you might be competing with them. As for me, I agree with dr. dpm. I am from the UK and I am doing a PhD. I keep a little eye on this website for jobs for out of interest. I saw one job that I applied for that said it wanted experience in industry or a PhD. In the UK, the funding for PhD is actually very good and comparable with a salary from a job – especially if you are industrially funded. Also, you can develop a host of skills while conducting your research that are very attractive to employers.

I have a master's and when I was looking for jobs they wanted either 5+ years and or a Phd. From what I have seen is that most companies who want a CFD engineer also want a Phd with it as well. Why? I don't know. I am working with Phd's and I know as much or more than them. It's a matter of getting past these discriminating human resource people for starters. I would look for contract jobs to get your foot in the door. I am working as a contractor for a very respectable engineering company and I am about to be hired on. Don't hassle with the big names, like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, NASA, etc.... It will take you months and perhaps years to hear something back. And most of the time you will get a rejection letter cause they have either hired a co-op, intern, or a contractor that already is inside. I applied for this contract engineer position on a Friday, had a phone interview the next Monday and was hired that afternoon. So look for a contractor position. Just a note. Some companies treat contractors like they don't exist. What I mean is that they value your work contribution more than you as a person. And then you have some that treat you like one you are part of the team. This is my experience so far. Best of luck.

You are very right Tang.

Now i am regretting why I have chosen CFD as a career, though I am very much interested in it, but I should have been more practical. Anyay, can you shed more light on contract engineering position, how to search for it ?

Thanks a lot.

Any job search will do. jobsearch.org, monster.com, careerbulider.com. Or you can do a goggle search on CFD and contractor and see what companies show up.

From what i can see, companies love CFD and what you can do with it, but companies are not ready to pay sevral guys doing it at 100% of their time. However it is well known that at the beginning you have to practice CFD at 100% of your time if you want to be efficient in your simulation. So in fact i think you should be aware of this when you want to include cfd in your field of application. To be realistic you need to be able to do something else while your computer is calculating ... this is very true in the chemical world. Pay a CFD specialist or sponsor a university program to make them study your case is very often cheaper than hiring one guy. But i am defenatley sure you will find something in the future.

Well, personally I have a strong background in both Experimental Aerodynamics and have now started working on CFD.

I see CFD as another tool in my Aerospace library, and if that tools lands me a job - so be it.

From personal experience if you set yourself up as a "CFD engineer" your job prospects do not look so hot - because you need to be flexible to survive the changing workplace....view CFD as a tool - not what defines you as engineer.