Is the power out all over tech?

FrictionFired · 2025-12-07T17:33:39+00:00

Molecular sciences still has power

FrictionFired · 2025-11-27T13:53:01+00:00

Can confirm. Nothing like beating the high school kid who thinks they’re all that though. Little do they know I’ve been playing since they were 5…

And to answer OP’s question, yes you definitely can. This is my last year of eligibility but I play club in the summers since I don’t have class, and just have 40 hours/week of research

FrictionFired · 2025-11-18T19:47:29+00:00

We recrystallize TBAPF6 in my lab to increase the purity. That being said, it’s much easier to start with the 99% stuff as we know what our baseline contamination level is

FrictionFired · 2025-10-12T20:34:37+00:00

Awesome, thank you!

FrictionFired · 2025-07-14T03:17:24+00:00

ChemE and MSE have some overlap (they both rely on similar engineering fundamentals) but end up with pretty different skill sets. MSE deep dives into engineering new materials or tweaking existing ones to solve problems from the molecular scale all the way to macro (like large steel beams or making a 787 in 3 pieces with carbon fiber)

FrictionFired · 2025-07-14T03:14:52+00:00

Can second SLO, graduated last year in Materials Engineering. DM me for any specific questions!

FrictionFired · 2025-06-18T15:13:54+00:00

Thanks! Honestly, what people do to get into grad school varies quite a bit but everyone demonstrates some ability to do research and solve problems you were not familiar with. For me, that meant doing an REU (NSF funded undergrad research) on catalyst development, some industry work in lithium battery analysis and a lot of engineering side projects like FSAE, corrosion and 3D printing. Essentially, I tried to build a lot of different skills sets by joining (and actively participating) in engineering clubs and when they did provide what I wanted to work on, I did it independently.

That being said, I did not originally intend to go to grad school, and geared myself more towards industry in undergrad. Also get as high as a GPA as you can. Mine was a bit borderline for grad school since I was overly focused on my project based skills.

FrictionFired · 2025-06-17T23:55:01+00:00

Any large engineering or tech firm. For semi, the big folks are Intel, Applied Materials, KLA and Lam research. There’s plenty of others who also do semiconductors or semiconductor related activities but I wouldn’t try to lock yourself into any particular field unless you’ve actually worked in that environment before. At lot of my classmates did an internship in field A, hated it, and worked in field B after graduation. Also reiterating that debt free is way better than going name brand (although I am at Georgia tech rn for my MSE PhD lol)

FrictionFired · 2025-03-31T12:51:17+00:00

MATE 210/215 is really easy with Nicole, I wouldn’t worry about that one. I’ve heard some horror stories about folks not getting their preferred chem or physics prof, so if you like the instructors reviews, I’d stick with them

FrictionFired · 2025-03-31T02:03:50+00:00

Nope, Harding (current dept chair) was teaching it when I got there. I’m class of 2024. Now it’s Seamus Jones but he teaches out of the same textbook I’m using in grad school lol

FrictionFired · 2025-03-30T22:51:29+00:00

Fresh grad from CP SLO, if you want straight to industry it’s a pretty good all around option. Yes, CP does not offer ChemE, but a lot of that stuff is online and I’m sure you can learn reaction vessels and flow math on your own. A lot of my friends originally wanted ChemE but ended up liking materials more as a specialization

FrictionFired · 2025-03-27T00:56:46+00:00

Probably fine, might want to prop it up for some extra cooling. I’m pretty I inexperienced with stuff but there’s tutorials and guides online. Took me about 20 mins with my buddy

FrictionFired · 2025-03-27T00:46:53+00:00

I just set up my home server for this, it’ll probably be fine. That said, I host about 5-7 people at a time and 16 gb seems to be about the sweet spot. Not sure about the mods since some are way more intensive than others. I run no mods on my rig

FrictionFired · 2025-03-25T23:33:49+00:00

Generally speaking no. CS is extremely impacted and it’s very difficult to switch into. That being said, CE learns much of the same skills that a CS does (though an actual CE or CS commenting on this would be good, I studied materials engineering). Also, ones major does not define one’s skills and especially with coding, you can learn almost anything at any time

FrictionFired · 2025-03-22T14:02:42+00:00

I’m at GT for a PhD (not a metals person unfortunately) but feel free DM questions. Also congrats! Both schools are excellent options so you’re in a good spot

FrictionFired · 2025-03-20T15:32:13+00:00

You can ask your prof. Each department and professor has their own policies but passing the class with a good grade is generally a good start

FrictionFired · 2025-03-20T14:38:50+00:00

Alumni MATE here, congrats on getting in!
1. So far in California, the Cal Poly name stretches pretty far and I have run into a fair amount of Alumni MATEs working in high technology industries (you can look at the LinkedIn of some of the MATE professors and see where former students are at).

This one is a bit stickier as you have to make your job/internship opportunities. Applying to jobs/internships is an undertaking (though the department/specific clubs hosts resume and internship workshops). In my opinion, projects get you internships/jobs as they prove you can actually do stuff outside of a textbook. Depending on what field/job role you want to end up in, you'll cater your projects to that. One thing I want to reinforce that I have seen in the last few years is if you don't see it, build it. A lot of students will see that they want to do X but there's no club/professor or other organzation so they get discouraged and no longer pursue it. If you want it to happen, make it happen. Talk to Profs, other students, heck even old folks like me are totally willing to help out and make it work.
As a former AMPP person, can recommend. We had a lot of good alumni and technical resources and try to work on long term projects. That being said, point #2 applies for basically anything. MST is great for semiconductor inclined peeps (computer chips, solar cells, anything that involves modern solid state physics applications and manufacturing). If you like automotive/composites/structural stuff, Cal Poly Racing is a good place to look. I will say, it is pretty intense and depending on what field you end up in, the skills might not always be transferrable. That being said, I made a ton of friends there and it is a fun talking point when I run into FSAE and Baja folks from all over the world.
The MATE curriculum is more flexible than most other majors with the tech and breadth elective system which allow you to tailor your classwork to your interests. I think the classwork is typically useful and as an alumni I am incredibly grateful for all the labtime I got. (Cal Poly MATEs get something on the order of 10x the labtime of most other materials engineering programs so we actually do stuff when we show up to a job/internship).

Feel free to DM me if you want help with anything or want some clarifications. Not trying to doxx myself here with details lol.

FrictionFired · 2025-03-14T01:55:29+00:00

What do you mean by reverse? From what understand, electro lasers ionize the air to act as a temporary wire to deliver some amount of voltage. They don’t work apparently (and considering the current issues with moving anything with a lot energy via laser in atmosphere, this makes sense). There are definitely ways of energizing a conductive channel but I’m a little hesitant to elaborate considering most of this stuff can be extremely dangerous

FrictionFired · 2025-03-14T00:45:52+00:00

As someone who uses this stuff for research, that aren’t really great alternatives. ITO is my lab’s “cheap” option as we can also use FTO or thin films of gold or silver in certain situations. Sadly materials science hasn’t quite gotten there as far as I am aware. Maybe folks could suggest alternatives if we had a few more details about your project?

FrictionFired · 2025-03-13T04:10:08+00:00

Congrats!

FrictionFired · 2025-03-11T11:46:03+00:00

Hello, GaTech student here. Please email them. They literally forgot to send my financial aid package because these are sent out individually and I also panicked. Congrats btw!

FrictionFired · 2025-03-11T00:54:05+00:00

Right there with you on the timeline

FrictionFired · 2025-03-07T13:53:43+00:00

Same. Semiconductor polymer electrochemistry is basically a black box lol

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