Materials engineering technician vs optical engineering technician

The differences between materials engineering technicians and optical engineering technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a materials engineering technician has an average salary of $73,313, which is higher than the $54,224 average annual salary of an optical engineering technician.

The top three skills for a materials engineering technician include asphalt, ACI and test results. The most important skills for an optical engineering technician are optical components, power meters, and optical alignment.

Materials engineering technician vs optical engineering technician overview

	Materials Engineering Technician	Optical Engineering Technician
Yearly salary	$73,313	$54,224
Hourly rate	$35.25	$26.07
Growth rate	3%	3%
Number of jobs	99,411	61,218
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 43%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	-	-

Materials engineering technician vs optical engineering technician salary

Materials engineering technicians and optical engineering technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Materials Engineering Technician	Optical Engineering Technician
Average salary	$73,313	$54,224
Salary range	Between $52,000 And $101,000	Between $30,000 And $95,000
Highest paying City	Palo Alto, CA	-
Highest paying state	California	-
Best paying company	Tesla	-
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	-

Differences between materials engineering technician and optical engineering technician education

There are a few differences between a materials engineering technician and an optical engineering technician in terms of educational background:

	Materials Engineering Technician	Optical Engineering Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 43%
Most common major	Chemistry	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	Pennsylvania State University	Pennsylvania State University

Materials engineering technician vs optical engineering technician demographics

Here are the differences between materials engineering technicians' and optical engineering technicians' demographics:

	Materials Engineering Technician	Optical Engineering Technician
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 80.3% Female, 19.7%	Male, 81.1% Female, 18.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 15.8% Asian, 11.5% White, 58.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 15.7% Asian, 11.2% White, 58.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between materials engineering technician and optical engineering technician duties and responsibilities

Materials engineering technician example responsibilities.

Manage and distribute cad standards to contributing design consultants and assist with any design issues as necessary.
Perform construction material testing on asphalt, concrete, soil and aggregate specimens both in the field and in the laboratory.
Assist in geotechnical field investigations and operate geoprobe rig.
Direct inbound and outbound logistics operations, such as transportation and warehouse activities, safety performance, and logistics quality management.
Work on non-classify and highly-classify scientific instruments using certify NASA soldering procedures.

Optical engineering technician example responsibilities.

Manage and distribute cad standards to contributing design consultants and assist with any design issues as necessary.
Assess contractor bid documents and prepare PowerPoint presentations for management by administering proposals to procurement in awarding work to eligible contractors.
Used Orcad schematic capture for hierarchical block diagram system documentation.

Materials engineering technician vs optical engineering technician skills

Common materials engineering technician skills

Asphalt, 16%
ACI, 9%
Test Results, 8%
ASTM, 8%
Construction Materials, 7%
Failure Analysis, 6%

Common optical engineering technician skills

Optical Components, 13%
Power Meters, 13%
Optical Alignment, 12%
MATLAB, 11%
Test Equipment, 8%
LabVIEW, 8%

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Materials Engineering Technician
Materials Engineering Technician vs Optical Engineering Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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