Breakout Session I: Non-Academic Careers

1. Breakout Session I:Non-Academic Careers Stefan ZollnerNew Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM (NSF: DMR-11104934)

2. Breakout Session Goals • Understand skills, knowledge, and habits of mind critical to success of physicists in non-academic careers and how they can best be provided. • Define and discuss preparation of T-shaped physicists (breadth and depth). • What are the model programs or good practices that prepare students for non-academic careers. Stefan Zollner, New Mexico State University

3. About Me • Traditional physics Ph.D. preparation at one of the best schools in my field, postdoc at IBM Research. • What skills/experiences made me different? • One-year foreign exchange program (Arizona State). • Excellent language arts preparation. • Foreign language and culture skills. • Academic experience:Iowa State University: 1992 to 1997 • Industrial experience (incl. management):Motorola, Freescale, IBM: 1997 to 2010 • Academic faculty & administration experience:NMSU Physics Department Head since 2010. New Mexico State University

4. Industrial Physicists are everywhere! How do we prepare them for their jobs? “There are four chips in this phone. I know what they do and I know how to make them.” 32nm CMOS InGaP HBT epi stack Stefan Zollner, 06/09/2012, Conf. for Undergrad. Women in Physical Sciences 4 New Mexico State University New Mexico State University

5. Question 1 • Over the past 5 years (2008-12), how many students received a physics Ph.D. in your department?23 Ph.D.s (9% Hispanic, 74% Foreign, 13% Women) • Statistics about first place of employment: • % in academia (postdoc or permanent) • % at government research labs (postdoc or permanent) • % in private sector • % unemployed or underemployed (fast food, taxi, …) • Answer: I have no systematic data. Most of our Ph.D.s become postdocs or return to Jordan for a faculty position. Stefan Zollner, New Mexico State University

6. Question 2 • Now think about your students who received their Ph.D. between 2002 and 2007. Where are they today? • Statistics of employment for your department: • % in academia (postdoc or permanent) • % at government research labs (postdoc or permanent) • % in private sector • % unemployed • Answer: I have no clue! • How do we track this? Stefan Zollner, New Mexico State University

7. Question 3 • Who in your university or department keeps track of this information? • Answer: • Registrar’s office counts degrees (about 90% correct). • Our department does not track Ph.D. recipients. • How many Ph.D. programs track their graduates? • YES: • NO: Stefan Zollner, New Mexico State University

8. Question 4 • Now think about your Ph.D. graduates who left five or more years ago. • Which skills do they find valuable? • Did they learn these skills in your department? • What are the three most important lessons they learnt in your department (skills, knowledge, behaviors)? • Answer: I have no clue.(I know this for our undergraduate engineering physics majors, but not for our Ph.D.s.) Stefan Zollner, New Mexico State University

9. Interlude • My wife’s comment: You sound like an education person. • If we were in a College of Education, US DoEd would require us to track our graduates. • Our BS in Engineering Physics is ABET accredited. We have these data for our undergraduate program, but not for our Ph.D. program. • If we (physics community) are not proactive in tracking this information, somebody may tell us what to do. Stefan Zollner, New Mexico State University

10. Physics Degree Holders: What do they do? Bond: What do I need to disarm a nuclear bomb? Response: Me! Nuclear physicist Dr. Christmas Jones Many NMSU physics graduates work for the government, in some capacity or other. How to be a spy: http://www.nro.gov Stefan Zollner, 06/09/2012, Conf. for Undergrad. Women in Physical Sciences 10 Stefan Zollner, New Mexico State University New Mexico State University

11. Physics Degree Holders: What do they do? • My classmates: • Hans-Peter Wagner: University of Cincinnati (physics) • Martin Muscholl: University of South Florida (physics) • Heidrun Schmitzer: Xavier University (physics) • Norbert Kaiser: TU Munchen (physics) • Jose Menendez: Arizona State University (physics) • Roberto Merlin: University of Michigan (physics) • Tobias Ruf: Director of spark plug R&D at Bosch GmbH • Diego Olego: CTO of Philips Health Care • Thorsten Heyen: CFO WackerPolysilicon Stefan Zollner, New Mexico State University New Mexico State University

12. Statistical Employment Data for physicists (NSF 2006) Primary or secondary activity: 28% Basic research 32% Applied research 24% Teaching (instructors) 19% IT 34% Mgmt, Sales, Admin. 36% Design & Development 12% Other (incl. services) 17% 34% 47% 34% of ~34300 Ph.D. physicists at colleges (4+) This includes 1710 postdocs. Less than 50% list “physicist” as occupation • Sources: • AIP Statisticshttp://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/emptrends.html • Characteristics of Doctoral Scientists & Engineers in the US, NSF, September 2009, April 2011 Erratumhttp://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf09317/, Tables 12, 15, 36, 75 • APS Industrial Member Survey (2006)http://www.aps.org/about/governance/committees/commemb/index.cfm Stefan Zollner, 06/09/2012, APS/AAPT Department Chairs Meeting 12 Stefan Zollner, New Mexico State University New Mexico State University

13. Physics careers are very diverse • A study of APS members in industry was performed by AIP in 2006: http://www.aps.org/about/governance/committees/commemb/upload/2006_Industrial_Member_Survey.pdf • Need a new survey: Focus on skills Stefan Zollner, New Mexico State University

14. Size of employers (2006 AIP Survey) No clear differences in survey responses by size or employer. Stefan Zollner, New Mexico State University

15. Statistical Employment Data (NSF 2006) Median Ph.D. Physicist Salaries: $ 99,900 Physics Ph.D. overall $ 52,400 Teachers (High school, community college) $ 74,700 Colleges and universities (4+) $ 109,200 Private sector (for-profit) $ 117,200 Federal government Early career salaries are higher in industry. Mid- career salaries in education and government are competitive. • Source: • Characteristics of Doctoral Scientists & Engineers in the US, NSF, September 2009http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf09317/, Table 54 Stefan Zollner, New Mexico State University New Mexico State University

16. Alumni Surveys: Skills and Challenges(Engineering Physics BS; not in grad school) • Skills for success: • Problem solving skills in a broad range of topics • Working with interdisciplinary teams • Commitment to life-long learning, willing to change • Written/oral communication skills • Greatest challenges: • Complexity of federal bureaucracy • Written/oral communication skills (documentation) • Living in a large east-coast city. • Consider return on investment (time management). • Does anybody do alumni surveys at the graduate level? Stefan Zollner, New Mexico State University

17. Question 4 • Who in your department has the skills your graduates find valuable? • Answer: We have three faculty (out of 15) with non-academic experience: • Department Head • Non-tenured professor • Instructional lab coordinator Stefan Zollner, New Mexico State University