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This isn't about myself, so kindly bare with me. I'll try to make this question as generic as possible.

I already read U.S. humanities professors: Can you get back into academia if you leave? and Does taking an academic job in Asia or Africa make it difficult to get a job in the US or Europe later? but they aren't a good match for my question.

A friend got a PhD in mechanical engineering at 2000 from a tier 1 university in US. Then he moved back to his home country and started teaching there. Now he is back in the US. His computer skills and knowledge of industry related softwares are limited. He just taught core mechanical engineering courses with 2-3 national papers published. His English is very good though. No problem there.

What are his best options of teaching? I initially thought that he would be able to teach in (community) colleges, but then most colleges are teaching CS, social sciences, economy, healthcare, math or at best chemistry. Most of them don't have anything related to engineering, let alone mechanical engineering i.e. thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, etc.

Currently what I'm thinking is that his best option is to just teach math in colleges. Are there any better solutions?

Honey
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  • Some community colleges have pre-engineering programs; perhaps this could be worthy of looking into? – Mad Jack Jan 26 '18 at 16:12
  • @MadJack 1. I'm a bit confused. I googled its definition. Do you mean something like the 'mechanical Engineering' mentioned in this page? or it's not always as specific as that? 2. FWIW the job doesn't have to be in academia, any job that is related would do fine. But huge preference with academia. – Honey Jan 26 '18 at 16:31
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    Here in Connecticut, there are several community colleges that offer associate degrees that can lead into mechanical engineering bachelor's degrees at other institutions. See here or here. – Peter K. Jan 26 '18 at 17:14
  • @PeterK. Nice. Thanks. (I'm using Google) Is there any easy website that helps you to filter out B.Sc. and M.S. programs or list programs? Or google is the only way? – Honey Jan 26 '18 at 17:30
  • Do you mean something like the 'mechanical Engineering' mentioned in this page? No, Oregon State is not a community college. Look for community colleges with pre-engineering programs. – Mad Jack Jan 26 '18 at 17:40
  • @MadJack and based on the details I gave, it's difficult for him to find a position from a non-community college even for pre-engineering right? – Honey Jan 26 '18 at 17:47
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    @Honey I just used Google too, but I used Mechanical engineering "community college" as the search terms to ensure that "community college" together appeared in the results. – Peter K. Jan 26 '18 at 20:09
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    You haven't mentioned whether or not your friend will require visa sponsorship. Many institutions are unwilling to sponsor employment-based visa for instructors, so this could be a limiting factor. – Brian Borchers Jan 26 '18 at 23:00
  • @BrianBorchers no visa required – Honey Jan 29 '18 at 14:44
  • How is your friend's English speaking? – Nobody Mar 03 '21 at 11:38
  • @scaaahu very good – Honey Mar 03 '21 at 11:41
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    This is not an answer because I am not a professor in US. Your friend has PhD from a tier 1 university in US, has some national papers, very good English speaking, already have green card (your comment says, no visa required). They should have no problem finding ME teaching job in universities, may not be R1 university, but a second tier university should not be a problem. This question is two years old, did they find a teaching job yet? – Nobody Mar 03 '21 at 12:15
  • @scaaahu tldr; no. But he didn't really try. – Honey Mar 03 '21 at 14:15

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Some community colleges have pre-engineering programs in which someone with a Ph.D. in engineering could be an instructor. The engineering courses offered in these programs are typically very limited. Courses like thermodynamics are not typically offered at the community college level.

Most community colleges have rules for the required academic background of instructors. For example, a fairly common rule is that instructors are required to have 15 credit hours of graduate-level coursework in the subject that they are teaching. These kinds of rules might well prevent your friend from getting a job teaching mathematics, chemistry, etc.

Your friend might also consider applying for a job as a full-time instructor at a four-year college that has an engineering program.

Brian Borchers
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