[e13drd]

I like using computations/modeling/simulation for many kinds of physical problems, whether it be for molecular dynamics simulations, CFD, DFT, thermal analysis, etc. However, I always did poorly in school with the experiments in labs and hands-on work. For example, I hated putting together circuits. However, I want to work in industry not academia, so engineering sounds appealing to me.

However, some people have told me all engineers, even if they have Master's, have to do at least some hands-on work in their jobs, unless they have PhDs. Is that true? Or is it different for CFD analysts, where BS and/or MS degree holders can avoid doing hands-on work?

If all engineers, even CFD analysts, have to do hands-on work except phDs, then maybe I'm better off working as a programmer/software engineer..

[som87]

Sry if I sound rude.
While someone pursues his/her PhD, atleast for the "good PhD candidate"s, they literally need to have more than "hand-on works". If you are going to work in cfd field you will no-doubt need to use your time to have such experience. In case you dont like that, I would recommend you to pick an alternate field..or maybe a field where cfd/fluid dynamics is secondary.

Again, I dont want to be rude/arrogant, just making some facts clear

[cfdnewbie]

Originally Posted by e13drd

However, some people have told me all engineers, even if they have Master's, have to do at least some hands-on work in their jobs, unless they have PhDs. Is that true? Or is it different for CFD analysts, where BS and/or MS degree holders can avoid doing hands-on work?

You need not worry. While smaller companies might require their engineers to be very flexible and masters of all trades, bigger companies will hire cfd analysts for just that - they will have special departments just for the simulation aspects of the job, and different departments for the hands-on experimental aspects.
It would make no sense at all for a big company to demand this kind of flexibility from all employees, instead, they rather hire specialists.

That being said, it never hurts to know some details about experimental work, in fact, it can greatly help you in understanding how to set up your CFD simulation to go along with an experiment, for example.

All my friends / colleagues (Masters,PhDs,PostDocs,...) who devoted their career to cfd (both in academia and in industry) never had to do any experimental work - unless they specifically applied for a job that included it in the job description.

I would even say that many PhD programs in the computational sciences don't even give you the time to do experimental work - after all, most experimentalist couldn't write a 1D FD code....