+1 to all of this. I don't know of any easy solutions to this but I do have some fun long term ideas to add on here. The better you are at networking and seeing

+1 to all of this. I don't know of any easy solutions to this but I do have some fun long term ideas to add on here. The better you are at networking and seeing and grabbing opportunities, the better your outcome will be. If you can show that you learn very quickly and know what you're doing where it matters (and are clear when you don't), then the lack of a Ph.D. will only limit your choice of employers, not fields. This sounds corny and obvious but you always have to actively keep the thought in your mind. Look into NASA space center/R&D internships and the like (JPL, Goddard, etc.) if you're interested in aerospace. Also look around for local universities with strong aerospace programs with project based graduate classes. If you're near a top aerospace program (Caltech, MIT, Cal Poly Pomona, Embry-Riddle, etc.) those classes can land you free or even paid work on satellite projects that get launched. As a concrete example: I took Aero105 class at Caltech while still a senior in high school and got to work on aRResT, a Caltech-University of Surrey formation satellite tech demo that should get launched this year or next. If you can get security clearance with NASA then getting in through a university that works with them is relatively easy (sadly the clearance is what got me). I'm assuming that if you're asking this question, you already have quite a bit of experience in your desired field so I'd like to emphasize universities. You can't just walk into a company and volunteer to work on their projects. Best case scenario you have to apply for an internship because the company can't legally accept free labor, fully trust you when you have nothing invested, etc. Universities, on the other hand, are free game. You'll want to do some due diligence and try to find labs that work extensively with industry (again, Universities with emphases on project based courses are more likely to have such opportunities, i.e. Franklin W. Olin College). Once you find a few labs, try to find some way to contribute to the project without getting in the way of the researchers. Try to find a github library someone in the lab wrote and contribute to it, clean it up, etc. or try to make a hardware project related to what that lab is doing. If you approach the lab with something that shows you understand what they're working on and could actually be a resource instead of a hindrance, the door is wide open. Note there are other, less expensive of getting your foot in the door but this tactic has worked best for me. I've found a lot non-profits to be similar to corporations. Scared of liability when it comes to engineers volunteering. Unless they go out to developing countries to build stuff like Engineers without Borders, the nonprofits usually only have restrictive lab internships and the like. It's also much harder to get from "foot in the door" to paying salary. Since many professors are largely funded by grants and have tenure, they are for the most part the King in their own little world and can tolerate you hanging around the lab till they can pay you or pass you along to someone that has money for you. If you're interested in autonomous vehicles in our atmosphere, play around with quadcopters, UAVs, and then try to make your own small, light weight and maneuverable hummingbird robot. Control theory is very approachable if you have some experience with math and computer science. Be forewarned though: I know brilliant people who have spent years at university making control software, it is a deep deep field. On the upper hand, if you manage to write software that can control a small flying robot as well as a hummingbird can fly, you'd win the hypothetical Nobel Prize in Robotics. If there are competitions that don't restrict entrants to universities, join and try to make an impressive show. You want to have something to show to everyone that screams "I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING" because that's pretty much what everyone thinks a PhD is (ahem: "I was paid less than minimum wage for half a decade or more"). In most of my interactions with academics, I've found that the PhD club is quite like any other tribe, arrogant and full of itself. But don't worry, those doctors are _mostly_ harmless and use the almighty PhD certificate as a defense mechanism and risk management tool. They're rational people who know determination and intellect when they see it.