/sci/ - Science & Math

oh i forgot a code. this is op.

Is quantum computing a viable future technology?

>>7258138
Do you think SpaceX are competent enough to follow through with their aim to reach Mars (and terraform it)?

>>7258140

That's really far out of my area of expertise, sorry. I have seen some really interesting possibilities with linear algebra and quantum computing, but it's probably one of those things that might never work, or if it does, I'll be dead.

>>7258138

Do you intend to stay in academia or go into industry??

>>7258143
>Do you think SpaceX are competent enough to follow through with their aim to reach Mars (and terraform it)?

Competency isn't the problem. Economics is. They need orders of magnitude more money than they have in order to do anything like this; it's kind of a joke, the mars thing.

Also SpaceX is notorious for being a terrible place to work. They treat their employees like shit. 60+ hours a week, below market wages, no thank you.

>>7258149
tending towards industry. the academic job market is a nightmare. it's painful to see fellow phd students that are total rockstars struggle for years to land an academic job.

I might do a short term postdoc depending on real life timing though.

>>7258138

Will you be well lubed when your kike professor uses you and spits you out for his own gains?

hehe

What's the meaning of life?

>>7258149
basically if a T1 tenure track position landed in my lap, i'd jump on it in a heartbeat, but planning on a TT position is the white nerd version of a ghetto kid pinning his hopes on the NBA.

>>7258157
love. our lives are painfully short, and we are going to die. enjoy your time, hopefully with someone else with you.

>>7258154

What area of aerodynamics are you working with?

>>7258164
A few. Being too specific I'd doxx myself, but I do some work in turbomachinery, aircraft wing design optimization, and some hypersonic aerodynamics.

>>7258164
in general i'm in the field of computational fluid dynamics, with a lot of applied aero work.

>>7258167

Nice. I just got a job at a defense contractor working on hypersonic aerodynamics. What do you do with hypersonics??

>>7258164
Will you explain why imaginary numbers are important to wing design?

>>7258162

Wrong, faggot.

The answer is there is no meaning to life.

Is your PhD being paid for or is it coming out of your pocket?

How old are you, where do you go to school, and can you post proof that you're not lying (a pic of your bsc or MSC would be nice)

>>7258176
also defense with hypersonics. you know the deal, hush hush. but related research - fast shit in the air.

>>7258180
fully funded (as any scienceish phd should be). my tuition and health insurance is paid for, and i collect a small salary for living (around $2k/month).

>>7258177

Here's an example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joukowsky_transform

>>7258181
30, I go to a pretty famous school, and I'm not really sure how I can post proof without totally doxxing myself. I guess I can take a pic of my undergrad degree maybe. My masters degrees would state the school and that plus my area would specifically identify me.

>>7258188
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joukowsky_transform
OP delivers... What kind of absurdity is this?

Favorite book on math/sci?

>>7258186

Noice. Do you need a clearance for your work? My stuff during school was ITAR but I have a secret clearance for my job now...

>>7258188
sure, good one. Also very relevant in fourier/spectral based methods in computation. It's not something I use regularly, but at a PhD level you're expected to be well versed in topics like that regardless of applicability.

>>7258194
actually just started in it. it's a weird academic limbo where everyone has clearance but me, but i'll likely need it in the future. i also did ITAR stuff in the past.

>>7258190
Okay, post a pic of your bsc or MSC and just blurt out the part where it says your specialty. Nobody on sci is going to do anything to you.

>>7258193
>Favorite book on math/sci?

Hard to say, you'd need to pick a particular topic, and most of my favorites are pretty specific to my field.

general math book though, everyone needs to own the princeton companion to mathematics. beautiful book.

>>7258193

Not OP but thanks lol. Complex numbers come up in the math methods used to solve ODE's and PDE's and spectral analysis as OP said.

>>7258199

Right on. Are you working with scramjets by any chance? That's something I'd like to understand a bit more...

>>7258195

>at a PhD level you're expected to be well versed in topics like that regardless of applicability.

This. Also, if you're good enough to get to that level, you're smart enough to teach yourself anything you need to know.

>>7258200
is that really necessary? there's like 3 people in this thread...

>>7258138
What's the biggest difference between being a PhD candidate compared to last year of undergraduate/working on a master thesis?

Are you using Matlab for simulations?

>>7258207
>Right on. Are you working with scramjets by any chance? That's something I'd like to understand a bit more...

I'm not actually working on that, no. But I share offices with people that do and I'm familiar with the research/simulation side of things.

>This. Also, if you're good enough to get to that level, you're smart enough to teach yourself anything you need to know.

Also some stuff you might not never needs to know. My applied math PhD quals were brutal... fuck, PTSD.

>omplex numbers come up in the math methods used to solve ODE's and PDE's and spectral analysis as OP said.

Also in stability of numerical methods, that comes up daily for me.

>>7258208
You said you would do it.

What advice do you have for someone who's thinking of switching from computer to Aero?

>>7258215
>What's the biggest difference between being a PhD candidate compared to last year of undergraduate/working on a master thesis?

Not even remotely similar. I guess the only similarity is that you're doing largely independent work. But undergrads don't know shit, myself at the time included. Undergrad senior thesis is basically checking a box.

>Are you using Matlab for simulations?

I use it for prototyping methods, and then implement actual major simulations in C++ or fortran.

>>7258222
>What advice do you have for someone who's thinking of switching from computer to Aero?

I have no advice, both are great fields, and it depends entirely on what you like to do. But I will say there is a ton of computational work to be done in aero, if you're interested.

What is the best introductory textbook for high performance computing? What is the best introductory textbook for aerodynamics?

Are you a physicist or a mechanical/aerospace engineer?

>>7258227
>What is the best introductory textbook for high performance computing? What is the best introductory textbook for aerodynamics?

honestly i've never read a decent book on HPC. Mostly just the standard software engineering books (i like code complete) and then specifics on MPI (LLNL has a nice tutorial).

For undergrad-level aero, Anderson "fundamentals of aerodynamics" is a standard and pretty good. for general fluid mechanics i like kundu+cohen, for compressible stuff i like "compressible gas dynamics" by liepmann/roshko, and frank white has some good books.

there's really no one book i could recommend... i value the different viewpoints of different authors.

>>7258233

engineer by degree, though the line gets blurred in research.

Any tips for a guy who's gonna start aerospace engineering next year? Anything I can do to get great grades in my first uni year and beyond?

>>7258216

What CFD package(s) do you prefer? Or are you working with an in-house code? I used CFX for turbomachinery in an internship and I thought it was awesome but I doubt it would be good enough for hypersonics...

>>7258244
Go to every single class, no exception, do your assigned work as soon as possible, no procrastination.

There's no protips or magic, just work hard. Do that and you'll ace everything.

>>7258247
All in-house, most developed by me. mesh gen and post-processing i use commercial tools though.

>>7258225
What prompted you to try take a PhD?
How is a normal day in the life of a PhD student, in general, not right before dissertation?

Im thinking about gunning for a PhD after I finish my masters next summer, that's why I'm asking.

>>7258150
>They treat their employees like shit. 60+ hours a week, below market wages
Huh? My brother works there as an engineer. He seems to have plenty of free time. He's only been there a few months, and he's made enough money to afford a BMW (this is his first job, too).

>>7258244

Honestly the best thing you can do is be truly motivated and love what you do. Beyond that, it's a matter of working hard and taking your classwork, etc seriously. Make a good impression with professors early on and you'll nail research positions and get good rec letters for grad school.

>>7258253

That's awesome. If I get time (lol) I'd like to try implementing my own rudimentary CFD solver. I would think C++ would be good, but do you have any recommendations language-wise?

>>7258256

Not that I don't believe your brother, but I've heard many terrible things about Space-X too. Horrendous hours, poor salaries, etc. I know people that have worked there.

What is the best shape to get a weather balloon up at 20km altitude as fast as possible?

>>7258254
>What prompted you to try take a PhD?

I just... really liked school, and fell into research as an undergrad and loved the field. Even before I knew it, all my friends at the time agreed I'd do a PhD, so I guess I was destined for it. Realistically if you do it right, you can work on awesome stuff for a few years, get an advanced degree that lands you a job also doing awesome stuff.

>How is a normal day in the life of a PhD student, in general, not right before dissertation?

i drink a lot.

in general the hard part is the grind. doing basically the same thing, plugging away at a problem, for *years*. one thing i find difficult is relaxing, because at any given moment there is some work i could be doing.

>>7258261
>That's awesome. If I get time (lol) I'd like to try implementing my own rudimentary CFD solver. I would think C++ would be good, but do you have any recommendations language-wise?

realistically, whatever you're most comfortable with. just so you can focus on the actual CFD stuff and not worry about language. i prototype codes in matlab (python is also good for this) and then port to c++ or fortran depending.

>>7258261
Maybe those people just signed on without negotiating contracts first? The company is allowed to screw you over if you let them.

>>7258276
>Maybe those people just signed on without negotiating contracts first? The company is allowed to screw you over if you let them.

It's a high profile company a lot of people want to work for, so they get to treat their employees like shit. Their turnover is ridiculously high for the industry; people work there for 1 year to put it on their resume and leave. It's practically taking a volunteer position for them. I don't see them existing a decade from now unless they have massive changes to their culture. They want to pay me 60k to live in east LA and work 60 hours a week? eat a dick, spacex.

It is literally the worst place in the industry to work. Everyone else will pay you a fair wage.

How archaic is fortran? Everytime I hear about it it seems its still in use simply because there exist so many large-scale systems written in fortran that need maintenance.

>>7258282
Is 60k a bad salary? (Britbong here)

Also, what is wrong with East LA?

>>7258299
Funny question. It probably wouldn't exist if it weren't for legacy codes.

However, modern day shitting on fortran I think is misplaced. A lot of the updates have made it a really wonderful language for scientific computing; the F2003 standard added some great OOP stuff, and F2008 is the only mainstream built-in parallelism I'm aware of.

>>7258305
For a PhD grad in aerospace, $60k is ridiculously bad. Typical starting is around $100k.

East LA is a shithole, ridiculously expensive, terrible traffic. 60k in east LA basically means I need to have roommates to make ends meet. You sure as fuck can't raise a family there for that salary.

>>7258305

$60k is TERRIBLE, especially in LA. I live in an area about 2/3 the size of LA in another state and I started at $80k with a Masters. Plus the People's Republic of California is a shithole and LA is even more of a dump.

>>7258307
I agree with you about the high profile companies, they treat young people like shit and expect them to consider the experience a payment, I went to a smaller company instead and got nearly three times the starting salary the prestigious company offered (Chemical Engineering materials R&D).

>>7258320
Yeah, it's not even "big" companies, it's just this startup-style spacex thing. Big players in aerospace, your boeing, lockheed, northrop, they will all pay me a fair wage and treat me well. SpaceX just gets away with it because of their PR.

>>7258326
>>7258282
>>7258320

I've found the same situation is true in Formula 1

My friend worked with Red Bull and I interviewed for an internship with Mercedes and they were offering pennies.

It was essentially child labour

What do you do in a day at the lab? Is your work completely computational?

>>7258138
Sup OP,

I'm the same as you, only I've already submitted my PhD Thesis

U Jelly? (Still have to do my defense tho)

>>7258326
What about Sierra Nevada? Do they have a good reputation? I should be starting an internship there soon.

If you have an airplane of given weight, span and cruise speed, will increasing its mean chord increase or reduce induced drag?

>>7258138
You're back!

What's the best fluids book for an absolute beginner?
And what's the best fluids book for a mathematician?

>>7258138
Didn't you make a thread a while ago? (like a couple months ago)

Whos better, GE or Lockheed?

Have you ever gone to any of the national labs for your work?

>>7258837
>Whos better, GE or Lockheed?

If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going

Hey OP, I'm going to college next year, is Cockrell (UT) a good place to study aerodynamics? Also, do you recommend that I do something over the summer?

holy shit it's the CFD guy again! I have a couple of questions if you got time.

1) I'm a graduating ME that's going to be doing a PhD studying combustion & CFD. I got a project coming up on explosives and was wondering if you or anyone else you know has had experience working on defense related research at all while in grad school. do they typically require clearances and what degree of secrecy does the research usually entail (I'm sure this depends on the project)?

2) how were quals and what type of stuff do they ask you during the oral? I have the option to take mine after my first year in the program and I was thinking of starting to study a year in advance because of how brutal I heard they can be. do you have any advice?

3) how long would it take to pick up something like C++ and become proficient enough at it to write CFD solvers? I've been using MATLAB for the past year to write my own janky-ass 2D/3D boundary element method flow solver and it's served me reasonably well for small applications, but I know more serious shit with like millions of grid points are going to require a compiled language that can run a lot faster.

4) do you use any visualization software like Paraview? I've been told that the Python scripting capabilities it has are very handy and was wondering if you had any input to share on that or anything similar. I see you mentioned using Python before, is there anything you find particularly useful about it for CFD?

Not sure if you're coming back, but

What kind of school did you go to for undergrad? Does where you go really affect your chances of getting into a good phd program?

And would you recommend me switching from physics to aero? I'm not a huge fan of engineering, but I'd really like to work with space travel.

>>7258138
I'm considering a PhD in Neuroscience in the future
what do you think of my subject area

>>7258138
I'm a current aerospace engineer student. Am I fucked if I graduate with below a 3.0? I do have an internship (but its mech eng.) lined up this summer

>>7259143
>Does where you go really affect your chances of getting into a good phd program?
I went through the process of getting into PhD programs this year from doing my undergrad at a mediocre state school. I got into everywhere I applied including a couple top 10's for my field in engineering, mostly with RA offers right off the bat.

Most important things were by far research experience and your letters of recommendation. my letters were off the charts and really opened a lot of doors to working with other professors my undergrad research advisor knew. research experience because, well it's a no brainer.

>>7258138
im shooting for aerospace too. im a junior in atm and im wondering if i should transfer to a more expensive school to BS in aerospace and work in the field with it, or should i stay at my current school and get a BS in mechanical and then get a masters at the more expensive school? (expensive school is ~30% more $$)

or can i get "gratifying" work in the field with a BS in ME?

>tl;dr
BS AE
BS ME, MS AE
or
BS ME

>>7259169
not op, but you prob. arent getting into grad school for AE

This seems like a fitting place to ask. I'm currently in 2B mechanical engineering on a co-op term, and I was planning on taking fluid dynamics and some systems design courses as my technical electives in the hopes that I could get a job in the aerospace industry. I was talking with my employer and he said that a professor told him if he wanted to get into the aerospace industry you needed a phd. I was planning on only getting my undergrad, can anyone confirm what he said to me is true? I'm Canadian if it matters.

>>7259340
>co-op
waterloo?

>>7259350
Yeah, we don't have an aerospace program

>>7258837
>What's better, engines or wings?

>>7259355
should've went here
http://engsci.utoronto.ca/explore_our_program/majors/aerospace/

>>7259340
I'm not in aero, but regardless I will tell you only do a PhD if you live and breathe research and want to do it as a career

if you don't, then there is no point and you are in for a real ass-whooping

>>7259376
I chose Waterloo for the co-op and it hasn't disappointed me yet
>>7259376
That's what I was thinking, I assume any aerospace company needs mechanical, electrical, systems etc engineers.

>>7259340
No, that's ridiculous. I'm a Mechanical Engineering undergrad and I'll be doing an internship in the space industry this summer, and employers in the space industry like to hire interns and co-ops full time after graduation if they are good, from what I've heard. I'm sure plenty of people get jobs in this sector with bachelor's degrees.

>>7259384
>space
aerospace*

That goes for aerospace in general.

>>7259383
Well you fucked up because Waterloo is a shithole full of shitskin third world immigrant TAs

>>7259384
Thanks
>>7259393
Just like every other university in this country

>>7258138
what do you suggest for my senior project in terms of brainstorming ideas,etc?

>>7259393
Canada's immigration policy is turning schools into shitholes.

At the undergrad level, the international students are a cash cow for schools, but they cheat and are rude as shit. You better pray you never get stuck in a group where you're the minority, because they'll speak in their own language only. Why? Because fuck you.

At the graduate level, there's apparently a speedy pathway to immigration for people who complete a graduate degree in Canada. Now every paki and chink is applying for a masters in Canada. Don't speak the language? That's no problem, it's not like the students are paying thousands to study here.

Everyone wins, except Canadian students.

>>7258138
so before this year I didn't really care about school. Now I have a passion for something, and want to go to graduate school for it. Is it too late? should I just go get a comfy jobs? I have a strong 3.0 GPA because I never went to my boring classes. I still did well in my major classes.

I have no question, but I am here to just thank you for coming back. Thanks for all the previous threads you made and making this place less crap tier.

>>7259477
Depends, do you have research experience, letters of recs, do you already have a degree? Is your area of interest the same as your undergrad studies?

>>7259481
my undergrad was in CS and my area of interest is AI and then Machine Learning research.

I don't have letters of recs or research experience, but I still have one year left (two if I add a minor to buy some time. As of now I'm finishing undergrad in 3 years)

Post proof of masters?

>>7258150

SpaceX does work you hard and the salary is certainly sub par but if you go into knowing what to expect, and more importantly what you want out of it, it can be a really rewarding experience.

Most of the people I knew who really hated working here had a completely unrealistic idea of what there work/life balance would be like. I don't understand why, since this is made abundantly clear at multiple stages during the interview/hiring process. I can only guess that some of those people weren't quite as smart as they thought they were.

>>7258261
>Not that I don't believe your brother, but I've heard many terrible things about Space-X too. Horrendous hours, poor salaries, etc. I know people that have worked there.

I don't want to discount the opinions you've heard, they may very well be valid, but ex-employees frequently exaggerate the negative aspects about the job they've left. I too know many people who have left SpaceX for various reasons. Some didn't want to deal with the poor work/life balance anymore, some moved on to other opportunities, for others priorities like starting a family took precedence. Almost without fail though, even amongst those that are glad to no longer be working here, they look back on their time spent at SpaceX as some of the most rewarding work that they've done.

I have experienced or heard terrible things about working at every large aerospace company as well.

>>7258282
This definitely has some truth to it. SpaceX knows that lots of engineers want to work here and they certainly use that to their advantage in hiring and salary negotiations.

I always find it amusing when coworkers constantly bitch about working here and subsequently leave after being offered a position they would never have gotten without SpaceX on their resume. You can't have it both ways. SpaceX carries a certain cache on resumes partly because the rest of the industry understands how much pressure is put on those that work here.

>>7259983
>>7258282
>I don't see them existing a decade from now unless they have massive changes to their culture.

This is getting into special snowflake territory. There is an almost constant stream of quality engineers sending in resumes by the hundreds for each position posted, I'm not sure a culture change will really be necessary. That's not to say everything SpaceX does is infallible, but I think you may be putting too much importance on how "special" or unique top talent is. I'll give you a hint, it ain't that hard to come by.

>>7258282
>It is literally the worst place in the industry to work.

This depends on how you measure "worst". If its compensation and work/life balance then possibly. Even the work/life balance needs a more nuanced view however since I know engineers here and else were that simply love to work long hours. What about experience gained, particularly in leading projects or quality of your coworkers/management? Certainly I wouldn't consider SpaceX the worst in these categories.

Again, these trade offs might not be worth it to you but that doesn't mean others wouldn't be willing to live with them. In my experience, those who leave bitter didn't properly understand what they were getting into and how to get the most out of it.

>>7258307
SpaceX is more south LA and its actually not bad. White neckbeards from the midwest take some time to adjust but overall it can be a pretty cool place.

>>7258317
I agree our taxes and gun laws suck but overall CA has some great things to offer. If you like the outdoors like I do its hard to image living many other places.

>>7258326
>because of their PR
Partially. Could also be in part due to being able to work on some amazing projects with some very talented people in a much more dynamic, and more importantly IMO, far less bureaucratic environment. Also again, having SpaceX on your resume can open the door to some good opportunities in the future.

>>7259285
You can go BS ME and still go aero

I'm transferring to UCSB for a physics bs but I plan to go to a graduate program for engineering. Am I fucked?

>>7260009
>I think you may be putting too much importance on how "special" or unique top talent is.
You sounds like a smart man who knows what he's talking about, but I think that actually top talent is very rare to come by and is generally only attracted by endeavours working toward something admirable.
Not in terms of qualifications of course, but something different.

Maybe I'm wrong; it could be that they're functionally identical caliber of people but that working toward an admirable goal inspires them more, but either way this functionally renders it the same situation.

If your company's goals turn money grubbing and greedy, employee performance follows suit and you produce shit. Noble company, great output and etc.

>>7260062
You're absolutely right, truly top talent is indeed very rare and even more difficult to recruit for. I certainly oversimplified in my post.

With that being said, its my opinion that in many cases those of us who have done well academically and professionally tend to overvalue are own worth. There are probably far more competent engineers on the job market at any given time than positions available at SpaceX.

In the context of my post I was attempting to point out that there is actually a fairly steady supply of very competent talent that is more than willing to work at SpaceX at the current pay and work/life balance. This could be due to any number of variables from naivety in new graduates, to SpaceX presenting unique opportunities, to great PR on the part of SpaceX. I don't see this scenario changing within the next decade despite the OPs claim that not overhauling our culture would lead to our collapse.

>>7258162
>the meaning of life is love
So Isaac Newton and Nikola Tesla wasted their lives but that meathead who lives in the local trailer park with his 3 girlfriends has achieved?

>>7258188
>that article
dude what

>>7260090
how many chemical engineers would you say work at spacex? what do they do, in general?

>>7259489
Get LoR, try to get research experience

>>7258138
Can a rocket work in a vacuum? If so, how?

Im looking to start a career in CFD. Have degree in chemical engineering and industry experience.
Halp.

>>7260791
why wouldn't a rocket work in a vacuum? rocket propellent contains both oxidizer and fuel.

>>7260344
A few.
They sweep the floors.

OP if he ever returns or in general for /sci/

I have a ton of money for school because military and im about to transition and start this fall semester.

>BS Astrophysics & Aerospace Engineering
>MS Nuclear Engineering
>PhD Astrophysics.

I want to do research work in theoretical physics for propulsion systems in the hopes for deep space travel.


Is this pants on head retarded? It seems like a lot of engineers who PhD do so in like a physics or something.

>>7261035
Not OP, but I can tell you with certainty that Astrophysics isn't going to help with research in propulsion. For that, your best bet is some aerospace engineering program, even for a PhD, though theoretical physics, engineering physics, applied physics, or anything like these (but not astrophysics) might be relevant, depending on the specific curriculum.

>>7261105
...Is theoretical physics like a field? I always thought you had a research specialty and some of those would play into 'theoretical physics.' Like someone working on subatomic particles for super-string theory or something.

>>7261181
>>7261035
theoretical physics
there is people developing theories.
its heavy math combined with physics knowledge to yield an interpretation of our reality.

experimental physics reaches from
advanced engineer (ex. detectors, lasers, plasma rockets)
pioneering and pushing new fields (fusion, plasma)
proofing/disproving theories (can be your own) (see higgs boson)
trying to find stuff/patterns that would give new understanding / base for new speculation/theory (e.g. antimatter)


btw since youre into nuclear, have this video incase you havent seen it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I78s1xjBA44

also, if youre into inspace 3He fusion.. imho the limiting factor is making it ecomically viable.
so its about thinking hard about applications that get such a boost from inspace fusion to justify a mining op on the moon.
unless there are colonies (moon or mars) that is. however colonies will take very large capital investment before they are econimcally self sustaining. earth cant really afford that any time soon.

so be prepared to have your dreams crushed and ready for an alternate earth-focused career.

unless you/someone can make a case for inspace fusion for asteroid mining.
and maybe plasma rockets (if manned).

and mind you, for unmanned space, fission reactors are viable(ish) and exist.


if you really want to push interstellar travel, youre looking at pure physics.
antimatter, warp drive, maybe^2 quantum shenanigans, or yet more exotic.
very academic/hobbyish, cuz hard time getting funding. or having a realistic prospect of doing something useful anytime soon.

>>7261719
This has been one of the nicest and most helpful posts I've seen on 4chan since 2006. Thank you.

>>7261719
>>7261754

Again to follow up a second time. If I could have this journey go a certain way. It would be using relatively conventional fission and chemical rocket technologies today to establish essentially forward colonies/mining outposts on Mars. Harvest the everloving fuck out of the asteroid belt. Using spectral analysis to create a shopping list for bodies within the belt. Create a huge surplus of materials for abundance of wealth in the eventual hopes for a megascale engineering project for a manned craft to leave the solar system.

>>7258138
What's your plan fot this weekend with your girlfriend ?

>>7261904
>tfw no gf

>>7258678
^^This

Can you fix ksp?