Hiring Physicists in Industry

Walter F. Buell, The Aerospace Corporation

As Principal Director of a medium-sized laboratory organization in the aerospace industry, recruiting and retaining top quality scientists is probably the single most important part of my job — certainly the most enduring. As a physicist myself, I quickly came to recognize the value of physics-trained employees in my organization (I was an easy sell), and my engineering colleagues recognize the value brought by physicists as team members as well. Roughly one third of my technical staff have degrees in physics (BS, MS or PhD), and I rely on them for their deep technical knowledge, problem-solving prowess and creativity.

So why are non-academic R&D laboratory directors like myself so keen on hiring physicists? Certainly one key reason is the depth and breadth of physics knowledge that form the core of a physics education. Beyond being “conversant in the canon,” however, employees with a physics background bring a habit of deep pursuit of the underlying mechanisms (The Physics) of a given problem - this is key in pursuit of root cause of a failure or ideating a novel solution and understanding the range of applicability of the new technology. Physicists also tend to be intellectually flexible "quick studies" who can make substantive progress in a new field in a relatively short time. This ability (if I can discern it in an interview) makes me much more comfortable hiring the best and brightest even if their specific skill set is not a match for my short-term needs. The physics training of reasoning by analogy and making connections is also a powerful skill when one is just not sure where the solution lies — physicists often are good at "getting traction" in ill-defined and multidisciplinary projects. It is important that physics majors entering the workforce are able to articulate and capitalize on these skills to prospective employers.

To gain an appreciation for the kinds of scientific research conducted in industry, it is instructive to cite some examples of physics and astronomy research that is conducted by my colleagues at The Aerospace Corporation.

• In pursuit of improved and more reliable atomic clocks for satellite applications such as GPS, we have been engaged in over three decades of basic research in atomic physics and precision timekeeping, resulting in more than 40 refereed publications in the last 15 years. For example, studies of the energy dependence of collisional interactions led to the invention of the isoclinic point thermometer, key to improving the long term stability of atomic clocks, and research into multiphoton transitions in a colored vacuum led to an improved understanding of the interplay of the AC Stark Shift, spontaneous emission and the Lamb shift in atomic clock frequency shifts.
• To advance our understanding of the space and ionospheric environment, we have launched over 300 space payloads on over 160 spacecraft and sounding rocket launches. Recent results include discovery of a new high-energy electron radiation belt occurring after strong geomagnetic storms, using two of our instruments on the NASA Van Allen Probes, and results from our Fly’s Eye Electron Proton Spectrometers on board the NASA MSS mission are providing new insights on magnetic reconnection in the Earth’s magnetosphere.
• In pursuit of the most cutting edge nanoelectronic devices, we have been engaged in research into devices such a FET based on a single carbon nanotube and demonstrated the world's smallest acoustic transducer.

These are just a few of the exciting and intellectually rewarding physics research areas to be found in the setting of “industrial and applied physics”.

Despite the great value of recent physics graduates to my organization - both because of their direct technical skills and because of physicists’ ability to rapidly grasp the fundamentals of new, disparate and multidisciplinary problems - there are still some critical skills that their education did little to prepare them for. These include working in diverse and interdisciplinary teams, project management, written and oral communication with diverse non-technical audiences and entrepreneurial pursuit of new projects. These skills are absolutely critical for success in the non-academic workforce and physics institutions would better serve their students by devoting some portion of the physics education experience to such topics. Just as it is key for physics majors to understand the value of their technical training, they must also be able to articulate these important “non-textbook” skills to prospective employers. Of course these very skills are every bit as crucial for research physics professors, so adding these dimensions to physics education will prepare students for academic as well as non-academic careers.

Our staff with physics bachelor’s degrees have been quite successful; about 80% of our staff who came in with physics BS degrees have been promoted to positions of increasing responsibility (and remuneration), and over half have reached the highest-level technical non-management position in the company. To quote a former Executive Vice President from my company, “Years ago, approaching my BS degree in Engineering Physics, I was told that this degree would open many doors for me. More than 50 years later, the data I have suggest that statement is still true.”

While many of the physicists in my organization continue in a physicist role throughout their career, others find success in management or related roles through the most senior executive levels. Of course the ways of thinking and approaching complex problems serves these individuals well throughout diverse career paths, but those that do have also mastered the extended set of skills that the Phys21 report recommends. While these successful individuals have typically developed these skills through the necessity of “on-the-job training” supplemented with company-provided training courses, the benefits of arriving on Day One with exposure to those skills is clear. Such new employees can immediately have greater impact and demonstrate both their immediate value and long term potential.

I will continue to hire physicists, along with chemists, engineers and other science and technology professionals, but will also place a premium on candidates with the extended skill set advocated by the Phys21 report. I am confident that students so prepared will both rack up successes in the workplace more quickly and have the opportunity for a more diverse and rewarding career in the long run.

Walter F. Buell is Principal Director of the Electronics and Photonics Laboratory at The Aerospace Corporation

Disclaimer – The articles and opinion pieces found in this issue of the APS Forum on Education Newsletter are not peer refereed and represent solely the views of the authors and not necessarily the views of the APS.