Why I pursued my PhD in Electrical Engineering | Should you get one?

I was working at a company that offered me a 50% raise NOT to pursue my PhD and stay there, saying I was a future VP. I left and got my PhD in Mech Engineering at a top university, although I did get a full fellowship from the national science foundation. Best decision I made was getting a PhD. You are treated completely differently with that degree at a big company, plus the amount of money I made was not within reach of anyone without a PhD degree in the tech side of the company. I made what the VP technology made as the chief tech advisor to corp. innovation. This is a VP in charge of 5000 engineers, so don't let anyone tell you management is the only way to go. I have since left to join a robotics startup as CTO and the upside is so much higher now with a piece of the company, this is a job I would not have been offered without the degree and my experience. If you are creative and are armed with a PhD in engineering you are way more valuable than management as you are incredibly hard to replace. The truth is in most big companies 95% of the new ideas come from 1% of the people, if you are that 1% you are golden.

This is probably the best video on specifically engineering phds on Youtube. Really great to hear this perspective.

As a grad student after 12 years of professional experience. It’s really hard to adapt to classes and exams. because the further you go the harder it will be. I knew from day one that I will go to grad school but I wasn’t able to afford it back then. Anyway “very hard” doesn’t mean impossible. That’s what my mom told me before I start :)

This is really nice information for anyone. Although I've had a lot of experience in the electronics field, I wish I'd had some thoughtful people like you to have helped along the way. I wish success for you and everyone else in this fun and challenging field!

Short, concise, straight to the point. Great video and great perspective

I am really glad i found a dedicated channel for electrical engineering. This video helped me a lot in answering my questions. You were right.. it's hard to leave the job and money to pursue masters/Phd. It's not that it's difficult it's that we're in a different mindset . And that's where i got my answer. Though I'm still a student but I think i know what you meant. Thanks a lot to you ❤️

Wow! even though you're so far up the ladder, you're incredibly humble! I really enjoyed this video. Thank you.

Yup, I also agree with most of what Dr. Pan said about the main advantages of having a PhD. Very insightful and concise video on those thinking of pursuing a graduate degree:)

I really enjoyed your authenticity and the content of the video, thank you!

I'll be graduating with my bachlors in computer engineering next summer. I think this is really great advice, it gave me a lot of motivation to pursue grad school. Thank you so much for your advice, I hope I'll be able to get my PHD one day!

Extremely helpful video and links, thank you!

U got a sub today love ur content crisp and to the point very relevant advice ❤

Hi janpancake! I just finished watching your video. I just want to say thank you for your video :) It's an insightful one

Thank you so much for sharing. This was very helpful.

I have my BS in Chemistry from UT in Austin in 1972, had a USAF scholarship, went into the Air Force for 3 years and then in 1978 and began leveling courses in EE and eventually got my MSEE from Texas Tech in December1981. I wish I had gone on for the PhD but it seemed that there were several factors that were against it....One thing was that the GPA requirement was 3.5 as opposed to 3.0...students had to maintain that GPA and given my background, I didn't seem to be able to do that...I did well in undergrad but when I got to grad school, the courses were a quantum jump above the undergrad courses in level of difficulty and lots of Chinese students were coming to American schools...and they were very good and I didn't seem to be able to compete with them. They lived together, ate together, and studied together....Thanks for your video...

Hey I am getting my PhD, and I found that your point in starting as a senior engineer is good. In industry you may get overlooked and perform at a high level deliver results but not get recognized. It was a factor in pursuing a PhD. I want more control over my career. Though I plan on doing industry post grad school. In industry career advancement is based 50% on who you know 30% on how you are perceived & 20% on what results you have produced. Getting a grad degree and PE lincense helps set us stand out Great video👊🏾

Thanks for this very insightful video!

Just finished watching and wow... I actually just applied for 4-5 Ph.D. programs! The advice you gave is amazing :) ! I Probably one of the best videos I've seen in regards to graduate school. Thank you so much and I'm looking forward to your other videos!!

2:38 this is so true! i have heard from many people that once you leave school and make money you don’t want to go back to school. Thats why I did my masters right after my bachelors. Also thanks for such an insightful video it definitely gives me a lot to ponder while i decide if a phd is right for me

Wow !! Nice video !! New subie 😊😊 Sure your videos will help me a lot since I am just done with undergrad in EEE