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Optical scientist skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted experts

Lisa Cuchara Ph.D.,

Dennis Doverspike Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical optical scientist skills. We ranked the top skills for optical scientists based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 21.0% of optical scientist resumes contained system design as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills an optical scientist needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 optical scientist skills for your resume and career

1. System Design

System design refers to the electronic structural component of a system.

Here's how optical scientists use system design:

Led the team to complete the mechanical, optical, electronic, and system design with simulation and modeling.
Played a major role in ultra long reach (ULR) 10 Gbps system design & development project.

2. Zemax

Here's how optical scientists use zemax:

Designed and implemented system modifications to improve optical performance using ZEMAX.
Studied optical system tolerance using ZEMAX and developed processes and control algorithms for robots to perform 5D active alignment.

3. Optical Design

Here's how optical scientists use optical design:

Managed the optical design of multiple-surface progressive addition lenses.
Developed optical design of relay and optical bench for airborne laser demonstrator.

4. Prototyping

Here's how optical scientists use prototyping:

Invented, designed and led the prototyping of a high contrast Fresnel lens/projection screen and its ultra-thin cabinet-less projection display.
Design and prototyping of a 1.7mm catheter and a pull-back module for the OCT product.

5. Asap

Here's how optical scientists use asap:

Hired for non-existent stray light work and stayed busy teaching ASAP usage and modeling baffles.
Stray light analysis (APART & ASAP) including baffle design and contamination calculations.

6. Optical Components

An optical component is a simple optical element used in the construction of optical systems to change the state of light by several means including, filtering, focusing, polarization, or reflection, and used as a critical component in larger systems for measuring, analyzing, structuring and processing precisely with the use of light and with little light loss.

Here's how optical scientists use optical components:

Utilized lasers, optical components, fiber-optics and fiber-optics components, and detectors including RF instrumentation.
Reduced the optical aberrations and optimization of the image system, lens fabrication and measurement, optical component characterization.

7. Modulators

Here's how optical scientists use modulators:

Implemented optical fabrication processes from concept through production for Acousto-Optic and Electro-Optic modulators.
Design and test first commercial 40-Gb/s and 100-Gb/s DPSK, DQPSK and DPQPSK polymer modulators

8. Interferometers

Here's how optical scientists use interferometers:

Measured figure and surface roughness of high-precision optical surfaces using interferometers and laser trackers.
Work with QC department to significantly expand capabilities to include spectrometers, interferometers and OSAs.

9. IR

Optics is a branch of physics that encapsulates everything about the science of light. Infrared, also called infrared light, is electromagnetic energy with wavelengths longer than visible light. Therefore, it is invisible to the naked human eye. IR is generally encompassing wavelengths from the nominal red edge of the visible spectrum around 700 nanometers, to 1 millimetre. Infrared (IR) optical fibres may be defined as fibre optics that transmit radiation.

Here's how optical scientists use ir:

Support of multiple field campaigns for airborne IR pulse lidar system and presentation of results at multiple US and foreign conferences.
Identified opportunities and developed and supported on-line and at-line process NIR and IR monitoring and control methodologies for aluminum coating operations.

10. Military Applications

Here's how optical scientists use military applications:

Transition from prototype to production a NIR objective lens used in military applications.

11. Electro-Optical Systems

Here's how optical scientists use electro-optical systems:

Performed R&D of advanced electro-optical systems for medicine.
Performed optical design and analysis, integration and test of electro-optical systems.

12. R

R is a free software environment and a language used by programmers for statistical computing. The R programming language is famously used for data analysis by data scientists.

Here's how optical scientists use r:

Designed R-statistical algorithms and wrote R codes to develop numerical regression.
Analyze and process large (>20TB) human health data sets using R and Python.

13. Raman

Here's how optical scientists use raman:

Developed Raman fiber laser and amplifier Worked as manager/group leader in some periods.

14. Aperture

Here's how optical scientists use aperture:

Supported IRAD investigation of Synthetic Aperture Imaging LADAR (SAIL).

15. Technical Reports

Technical reports are a type of document that is used to indicate either the progress, result, or process of scientific research or the state of problems occurring within such research. A technical report may also showcase the report's overall conclusion and may also include recommendations. This kind of report does not require a peer review and isn't published officially but distributed within the organizations where it was formed.

Here's how optical scientists use technical reports:

Create detailed technical reports that include recommendations for impact reduction and alternative construction methods and techniques for minor and major facilities.
Designed experiments and conducted statistical analyses, authored and executed protocols, performed data trending and summarized results into technical reports.

What skills help Optical Scientists find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What optical scientist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Lisa Cuchara Ph.D.

Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Quinnipiac University

The first and foremost would be Critical Thinking. We live in a world where facts can be easily acquired, sometimes even by asking Siri/Alexa/ChatGPT/Google/etc. But critical thinking is timeless and priceless. I can ask anyone on the street what xyz is and they can look it up, but can they provide advice or interpret.

Also being a good steward towards science and being willing and able to communicate not just with peers as we are trained, but also with the public, the politicians, the board members. John Holdren*, stated that Scientists should be tithing at least 10 percent of their time to public service ... including activism. In the ever growing science denialism that is happening in our country being able to communicate science with the public is important. As Peter Hotaz states, "Anti-science propaganda is "killing Americans in unprecedented numbers,""

*Holdren is an American scientist who served as the senior advisor to President Barack Obama on science and technology issues through his roles as assistant to the president for science and technology, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and a Research Professor in Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government

What type of skills will young optical scientists need?

Dennis Doverspike Ph.D.

Chief People Scientist, Doverspike Consulting/HR LItehouse

Seemingly a paradox, there will continue to be a need for very general, but highly fungible, skills and demand for too specialized skills, requiring advanced education. Coding, statistics, and data analysis related skills will remain a hot growth area. The aging of the baby boomers will create demand for medical and healthcare-related regions, especially nursing, nursing aides, and emergency services. Despite the automation of many people facing jobs, there will continue to be a demand for interpersonal and people skills, including various types of sales. The switch to remote work, due to COVID, will create a substantial future market to fill the leadership and managerial skills gap. In many areas of Technology and engineering, it is already challenging to find a combination of technical knowledge and people skills, and this demand will intensify.

Do you want to know more?

List of optical scientist skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for an optical scientist resume and required skills for an optical scientist to have include:

System Design
Zemax
Optical Design
Prototyping
Asap
Optical Components

Modulators
Interferometers
IR
Military Applications
Electro-Optical Systems
R

Raman
Aperture
Technical Reports
Data Analysis

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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