People always think science as cool stuff while engineerings as old fashioned things. In some ways that is true. But thinking about their true meaning, one should repect them both. They all start from the observation of nature, abstract to the language of Math and then be understood and used by us. In fact, by using some knowledge known commonly in the engineering society in some new field, intriging science could be found.
solve the problem you have in hand, and learn more. No matter if it is a science problem or an engineering problem.
Rui & Photonics 