Career Change?

[antigravity]

I am a tenured associate professor who teaches and does research in the field of strategy and international business. I enjoy research and have a successful career. But, I am faced with a dilemma.

I ended up studying business as an undergraduate as a result of doing what everyone else did during those years in my country. Followed everyone else in the graduating high school class so to speak, and ended up in the top business school in that country. Graduated as valedictorian, came to US to a top school to get MBA, got the PHD in another top school.

Now years later, I realize that I made a big mistake not following my dreams. I am very math and sciences oriented, and anything about airplanes, engines and such I find interesting. As a kid I grew up taking things apart and building and tinkering. As this point in my career I am toying with the idea of going back to school to some engineering PhD. But would that even be possible! Would I have to be an undergrad again!

What advice do you have? Probably, I should forget this all : ) .

[tip3r]

I would suggest you take a couple of classes before changing your whole career at this point. You may realize it isn't all you thought it would be. I started studying mechanical engineering for my love of cars and airplanes and ended up getting into MEMS and microfluidics and somewhat regretting I haven't been more involved in electronics and computer engineering. I'm saying all this to say that once you get into the field you may not be as interested as you think you are. Don't throw away what you already have for something you are not sure about.

 

Another thing is that many universities will not accept PhD applicants who already have a PhD degree.

[JPeterman]

As an associate professor, can you take or audit courses in engineering at your current school?

[antigravity]

OK! I understand that it is a good idea to make sure that the new career is what I expect it would be. My university does not have engineering departments but has the basic sciences, physics, math, etc. It is a 3-3, balanced teaching research type of school. So, I can audit some of those courses. And, I guess I can pick up a few related engineering books. I guess my interest in industrial economics, international business and strategy is kind of waning, especially from a teaching perspective. I am very interested in technical things. My hobby is learning how to fly small planes, and I really like everything about aircraft design, aircraft engines, propulsion, materials etc. Since my training has already been math and stats heavy I am thinking I will be mesmerized by the study of those things. But I  understand the need to confirm.

 

The question is, assuming my suspicions regarding interest in those matters is not unfounded, how to go about it. Do I study things on my own and write a paper if I could? Do I just take entrance exams? I think some of the schools have those.

 

Any ideas?

[HappyEngineer]

If you find out that this is what you really want then going to undergrad for engineering is probably a good idea. After all, you need the formal training and the degree no matter you want to get into the academia or the industry.  

[free_radical]

You seem to be doing well in your current career path - is there anyway to somehow keep that and pursue your interests?  Like maybe get into strategy and business aspects of the aerospace industry, where you can be exposed to the technical aspects of building planes.  If you love flying small planes, it's also quite possible to pursue that as a hobby on top of your already successful career - there are probably competitions or events in that area you could attend, with or without a formal engineering degree.   

 

As an engineer myself, I might also add that many engineers are technically brilliant, but do not understand the business aspects of scientific research, i.e. the economic factors that might drive the aerospace industry.  It is not all about being scientifically brilliant, you also need to understand economic, political, and cultural factors that affect scientific innovation.  So don't underestimate the power of your business training - even if your passion seems to be more technical.