Basically, I'd like to be able to help invent stuff like you read about in MIT Technology review:
http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/32267/?a=f
chings, or some other academic type? How could I just join a team of these researchers without having anything but an engineering undergrad and make a decent living?
Thanks, I'll listen off the air.
Anymore no. Most researchers these days that do cool stuff like that have their masters, if not more. A lot of those teams consist of grad students that will do research for the lead scientists. Also undergrad teaches too many basic principles to be able to apply to specific technologies.
Most of the research assistants at K-State are grad students. They get credit hours for doing research. There are some undergrad students that do research, but at a completely different level of coolness.
could I just get a generic masters degree in engineering while I work and then join one of those awesome teams?
You will need to get a masters degree in a specialized engineering curriculum (Electrical, Computer, etc) and then you will be hired as a research assistant based upon your expertise. Some research spots may not be as technically specific and will just require a masters degree in Electrical and/or Computer Engineering, and others will be very specific like (Master in Electrical Engineering with a concentration in controls, acoustics, radio waves, etc...)
But yea you can't really get a general master in Engineering and expect to get on a cool team like that. You need to know your cac.
Example: K-State Electrical Engineering Professor designed some components that went on the Mars Rover. He didn't design the entire thing, but he designed parts of it.
