Microsystems Engineer

Unseen forces power our everyday lives, and they come in the form of microelectromechanical systems — MEMS for short. Microsystems Engineers design, test, and build these itty-bitty devices that show up in inkjet printers, control the airbags in cars, and can even monitor blood pressure from within the human body. Microsystems Engineers invent these technologies that range from convenient to lifesaving.

Your work as a Microsystems Engineer often takes place in a laboratory setting with other Scientists, researchers, and Laboratory Technicians in charge of various pieces of equipment throughout the lab. Here, all your hard work comes to life as you experiment with better ways to build MEMS and see the test results of your latest inventions.

When you’re not testing one of your latest creations, you’re in your office sketching designs, drafting blueprints, and crunching numbers to come up with a new idea. Every invention you design is created with the goal of making modern technology faster, better, or smarter.

Once the design and testing phases are done, you tackle the paperwork end of the design process. No invention leaves your lab without a thick documentation manual on how it works. Part of your time goes to analyzing and recording the results of your tests and creations, while the rest is spent tinkering with the creations themselves.

The tiny machines you create are like the cells that make up technology. Though they may appear small and insignificant, without them, technology would cease to function.