Engineering PhD 101

In today’s episode, we will discuss the benefits of and challenges with pursuing a PhD in Engineering. Our guest for the day is Isaac Matthews, a graduate research student in the Space Environments and Satellite Systems (SESS) Group at Stanford University. He researches optical diagnostic methods to measure and simulate behavior of plasma in the space environment in ways that inform how spacecraft experience space domain hazards. Isaac has also engaged in decision and risk analysis studies, national security research topics, and has worked on several start-up ventures while in the Management Science and Engineering Dept. Prior to his time at Stanford, he has worked at NASA, JPL, and GE Aviation. Interest in Engineering-0:40 Financing your graduate education-4:20 Resources to get prepared for graduate school-9:00 Exposure to career opportunities pre-graduation-24:00 Managing your mental health in grad school30:00 Managing survivor's guilt-38:10 Who should the scholars know about and final advice-43:01