From MS in Nuclear Eng. going to CFD Job in another field
 

Hello,

Let me begin by saying this might seem like a useless post, but I just wanted to hear the opinion of a real CFD person.

I have about one year left before completing my MS in Nuclear Engineering. Over the course of this past year I have come to thoroughly enjoy applying CFD to a wide variety of problems (not only problems relating to Nuclear applications). This began with my research, which dealt with CFD analysis for single-phase conditions within pressurized water reactor fuel assembly. Even though I was using a commercial code to perform the analysis, I was extremely curious as to how CFD is implemented on a software development level. I had to venture into the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering course offerings at my Univeristy, and after three classes relating to CFD, I am hooked. These classes not only displayed the methods for solving incompressible and compressible fluid flow problems, but also the governing equations and physics relating to these types of flow. I think I may be one of the few students in my department to know what the Rankine-Hugoniot conditions are. After the final class, which heavily iterated the DG method for solving fluid flow problems, the professor asked me if I would be interested in pursuing a phd in Mechanical Engineering with an emphasis in CFD. While I would love to do this, I have run into some financial issues that the normal graduate stipend cannot alleviate. Instead, I would prefer to find a job that would have me applying CFD to some set of fluid flow problems.

So to kind of finish this: Would it be possible for a Nuclear Engineering student (with a strong background in fluid flow and heat transfer) to obtain a CFD oriented job in a non-nuclear field?

I appreciate any feedback that can be given.

Thanks,

Cameron

Since you enjoy both Nuclear physics (otherwise you wouldn't do a MSc in Nuclear Eng.) and CFD, then I think that your best option is to find a job where you'll be applying CFD on nuclear applications.
In non-nuclear applications I think they usually ask for Mech. or Aero. Eng.

Cameron,
don't worry at all. You are an engineer by training, so you are familiar with the mathematical basics and the engineering way of methodical thinking. Nothing more and a lot of hard work is required.
Good luck, and enjoy the ride!

Thank you so much for your responses. I appreciate this feedback more than you can imagine. As it stands, pursuing the phd in Mechanical Engineering with an emphasis in CFD is what I really want to do. I also recently learned that some CFD research opportunities exist in the MechEng department here that require a student with Reactor Design/Analysis experience.


Thanks again,

Cameron

Dear Cameron,
good luck with your future plans. May I ask what school you plan on attending? You can also send me a PM, if you like, I might be able to give you some hints.

Whatever you decide to do, keep in mind that the broader your perspective, the better your chances of being hired are. A PhD in CFD will give you a strong mathematical and engineering background in mathematics, numerical approximation theory and computer science, so you will become an attractive employee to a great number of industries - after all, simulation is everywhere, right :)

Good luck in the future,
and by the way: DG is the choice of the future ;)