{"id":4687,"date":"2024-12-19T12:49:36","date_gmt":"2024-12-19T20:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pacific.edu\/blog\/?p=4687"},"modified":"2024-12-19T12:55:59","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T20:55:59","slug":"what-is-engineering-physics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pacific.edu\/blog\/2024\/12\/19\/what-is-engineering-physics\/","title":{"rendered":"What is engineering physics?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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When engineering physics graduates interview for jobs, Professor Rahim Khoie says, they are often asked to explain their degrees. This is perhaps to be expected: the field of engineering physics is only a few decades old. Consequently, job applicants with Bachelor of Science degrees in Engineering Physics applying for jobs are relatively rare, compared with those with mechanical engineering degrees, for example. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is engineering physics? <\/strong>Formally a hybrid of mechanical and electrical engineering, Khoie says that it is a \u201cphysics-flavored engineering discipline.\u201d It is a multidisciplinary, cross-functional engineering degree for students who love physics and want to work in industry \u2014 who want to understand the universe and its workings \u2014 down to its elements and who want to create tools that can improve peoples\u2019 lives.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“The reason I chose engineering physics was so I could understand things like the stars and atoms and how we learned all of those things and how we shaped our earth with that knowledge.” <\/strong><\/p>\u2014 Zech Miller \u201919<\/strong>
Engineering physics graduate<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Engineering physics majors receive a deeper education in physics and math than other engineering students, frequently taking math classes through Calculus III and applied differential equations, thermal physics, quantum mechanics and advanced electives in both subjects. These courses provide a strong theoretical and technical background to support future specialization.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Applied physics vs. engineering physics: <\/strong>Engineering physics programs are usually housed in engineering schools, whereas applied physics programs are usually housed in a university\u2019s school of arts and sciences. At University of the Pacific, engineering physics students get the best of both worlds, studying with professors in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and learning the fundamentals of engineering with professors in the School of Engineering and Computer Science. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What can you do with an engineering physics degree?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

An engineering physics degree prepares students for more technical jobs within physics or more theoretical engineering jobs, as well as for graduate school in physics or engineering.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interesting projects in college: <\/strong>Because it is an interdisciplinary field, engineering physics students work on projects that tend to be particularly interesting. Here are some examples of projects that engineering physics majors at Pacific have worked on:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two engineering physics majors<\/a> built a device for measuring the performance of different types of nanoparticles used in solar stills to speed up the process of distilling salt water into fresh water. In this desalination process<\/strong>, nanoparticles absorb a wide spectrum of the available sunlight and make the surface of the water heat up faster than it otherwise would. The process has the potential to increase the availability of fresh water in communities without reliable access to potable water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n