Hi all, I will finish my Masters this year, and i wish to continue to the (title of doctor!). My undergrad degree was in Mechanical engineering, in which I did really well. However, i went to do a little bit of management as well so I joined a MSc program in "Management of Competitive Manufacture", the course is mix of both Engineering and Management modules.



Now, initially, I was thinking of doing my PhD in the Management field (e.g. supply chain management, performance management, etc). but to be honest, i felt much more comfortable with Engineering, i loved mechanics, thermodynamics, etc, i really like calculations and analysis and didn’t feel the same with the ambiguities and loads of literature involved in the management studies!!

I am really confused, and would really appreciate it if you guys advice me on the suitable PhD topics, in both Engineering and management, and why do you think i should go for it.

I cant say much about engineering and/or management, but I suppose there some key questions which you need to consider before making a decision on which topic to go for.
If you have read around the forum a bit, you will appreciate how hard it can be to do a PhD. Many of us were really good at UG level, and might even have excelled in a Masters, but remember, a PhD is a different beast. It takes 3-4 years (maybe longer) with constant challenges, you focus on a specific topic for extended periods of time(!), so therefore you really need to be motivated to do it. Different people get their motivation from different things: some love their topic, some want to really learn something new (e.g. your management side of things?), some enjoy labwork, fieldwork, literature work, some are motivated by what they are going to do with the qualification and the extra money that can bring. So ultimately you have to decide what it is that "motivator" is for you.
Also, is it maybe possible to do research that includes both engineering (with all the things you like about it) and management elements? Are there any PhD students in the department where you are doing your Masters who do just that? Maybe have a chat with them, what kind of topics they do, how things are combined...
Good luck.