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The differences between optical design engineers and customer engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both an optical design engineer and a customer engineer. Additionally, a customer engineer has an average salary of $101,212, which is higher than the $94,750 average annual salary of an optical design engineer.
The top three skills for an optical design engineer include optical design, MATLAB and zemax. The most important skills for a customer engineer are customer service, technical problems, and level agreements.
| Optical Design Engineer | Customer Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $94,750 | $101,212 |
| Hourly rate | $45.55 | $48.66 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 49,731 | 44,709 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 56% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
An optical design engineer is an optics specialists who uses their scientific skills to design solutions and solve optical problems. Optical design engineers are essential in the field of laser technology, telescopes, optical lenses, and fiber optics. You will be responsible for designing and building devices that enable better utilization of optics technology and requires in-depth scientific optical knowledge as well as high technical design abilities. Optical design engineers are problem solvers in the field of optics.
A customer engineer provides technical support to organizations having issues with their products or services. Duties and responsibilities may vary depending on the sector, but generally include diagnosing and troubleshooting technical problems with products, performing tests, upgrades and diagnostics to prevent delay or downtime caused by-product issues, and keeping updated reports outlining the problems and measures taken to resolve them. A customer engineer is also responsible for discussing service contracts and their benefits with clients.
Optical design engineers and customer engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Optical Design Engineer | Customer Engineer | |
| Average salary | $94,750 | $101,212 |
| Salary range | Between $71,000 And $125,000 | Between $77,000 And $131,000 |
| Highest paying City | Menlo Park, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Meta | |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Start-up |
There are a few differences between an optical design engineer and a customer engineer in terms of educational background:
| Optical Design Engineer | Customer Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 56% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northeastern University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between optical design engineers' and customer engineers' demographics:
| Optical Design Engineer | Customer Engineer | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 80.5% Female, 19.5% | Male, 90.4% Female, 9.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 17.2% White, 62.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 14.5% White, 64.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |