More Perks of Industrial Physics

Like Arthur Jensen, whose letter appeared in the December 2003 issue of Physics Today (page 19), I also had very positive experiences as a physicist working in industry. Experimental physicists should be very much at home there, addressing such projects as designing new equipment for special analytical techniques, solving an everyday commercial problem, or explaining a fundamental science question. My job was not work; it was a playground where I could make up many of the rules.

My colleagues and I were designing static SIMS (secondary ion mass spectrometry) equipment before most people had heard of the term. At times I worked in the commercial field, salvaging multimillion−dollar electronic equipment installations after fires, floods, and general contamination events. Another time, a scientific explanation of why copper is such a good material for making general commercial electrical wiring and connections was published on its first submission to Physical Review B. Other projects ranged from single crystal surface analysis in ultrahigh vacuum to seeing what was under the mud on the surface of a circuit board after a flood. If you want to work on a variety of problems, go into industry.

The best perk is that I did not usually have to write proposals to obtain funding. Back in the 1970s to 90s, a short walk to management's office and a "back of the envelope" discussion were sufficient to find time and money to do what I wanted. Money may be harder to come by today, but companies are still interested in learning why things do or do not work.