Optics Engineer

From brightening the room when you’re reading to making precise cuts in small pieces of metal, light comes in many forms and serves many purposes. Optics is the study of light and how it behaves. As an Optics Engineer, you’ll explore the world of light to harness its power and create new advances in technology.

The field is surprisingly broad for an Optics Engineer, as light is integral to an unexpected number of industries. Internet speeds run faster and faster thanks to fiber-optic cables, which send data shooting along at unimaginable speeds. Lasers carve intricate shapes no human hand could make. These cables and lasers, amongst many other things, were made possible because Optics Engineers discovered new ways of using light and found how to put it to use in creating a better world.

When you venture into this field you not only impact technology, you shape it. On the job you set up experiments dealing with light and record your results. You modify the experiments until you find ways to improve current technologies. You also design and create circuits to power various electronic instruments, and create new equipment to conduct tests with light.

Inventions, however, are only part of the job. Often you spend your time researching new findings by other Scientists and Engineers. For this you need a keen understanding of math and physics to interpret scientific papers about the field of optics.

The uses of light are many; you, the Optics Engineer and your team work hard to constantly improve technology and push it to be a little better every day.