What does a photonics engineer do?
Photonics engineer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real photonics engineer resumes:
- Apply technical knowledge in electromagnetic theory and microwave technology to plan and manage projects concern with ground-base radar systems.
- Focuse on DFM, serviceability, and reliability.
- Use of special optics and non-linear optical materials with UV, visible and near IR lasers.
- Hand build custom waveguide and MEMS devices from bare GaAs/AlGaAs and Si substrates using tailor process flows.
- Develop and institute LabVIEW test programs and physical design validations.
- Conduct geotechnical and environmental subsurface investigations.
- Evaluate manufacturers' specifications for the approval of components, perform first article approval of proprietary components and troubleshoot design failures.
Photonics engineer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 36% of Photonics Engineers are proficient in Modulators, LabVIEW, and Fiber Optic. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Listening skills, and Mechanical skills.
We break down the percentage of Photonics Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Modulators, 36%
Design and test first commercial 40-Gb/s and 100-Gb/s DPSK, DQPSK and DPQPSK polymer modulators
- LabVIEW, 17%
Developed and instituted LabVIEW test programs and physical design validations.
- Fiber Optic, 14%
Provided critical engineering support towards the development and manufacture of an innovative ultra-long-haul fiber optic transmission system.
- Mems, 13%
Hand built custom waveguide and MEMS devices from bare GaAs/AlGaAs and Si substrates using tailored process flows.
- C, 9%
Developed C programs accessing Oracle Relational Database Management System through Oracle s embedded Structured Query Language interface.
- C++, 9%
Used C++ language to program and develop network applications for communication between different offices and for everyday office documentation maintenance.
Common skills that a photonics engineer uses to do their job include "modulators," "labview," and "fiber optic." You can find details on the most important photonics engineer responsibilities below.
Creativity. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a photonics engineer to have is creativity. Their role and responsibilities require that "mechanical engineers design and build complex pieces of equipment and machinery." Photonics engineers often use creativity in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "conducted performance counselings used microsoft suite applications to complete inventories and reports. "
Listening skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling photonics engineer duties is listening skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "mechanical engineers often work on projects with others, such as architects and computer scientists." According to a photonics engineer resume, here's how photonics engineers can utilize listening skills in their job responsibilities: "communicated design criteria and specifications and helped troubleshoot the build. "
Mechanical skills. This is an important skill for photonics engineers to perform their duties. For an example of how photonics engineer responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "mechanical skills allow engineers to apply basic engineering concepts and mechanical processes to the design of new devices and systems." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a photonics engineer: "researched polymer material systems for use in microelectromechanical systems (mems) devices. ".
Problem-solving skills. A big part of what photonics engineers do relies on "problem-solving skills." You can see how essential it is to photonics engineer responsibilities because "mechanical engineers need good problem-solving skills to take scientific principles and discoveries and use them to design and build useful products." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical photonics engineer tasks: "solved problems in the windows domain admin queue and accomplished technical support for unclassified network on outlook for email access requirements. "
Math skills. Another crucial skill for a photonics engineer to carry out their responsibilities is "math skills." A big part of what photonics engineers relies on this skill, since "mechanical engineers use the principles of calculus, statistics, and other advanced subjects in math for analysis, design, and troubleshooting in their work." How this skill relates to photonics engineer duties can be seen in an example from a photonics engineer resume snippet: "developed a visual c++ (mfc) based application to calculate real time statistics for gps sessions. "
The three companies that hire the most photonics engineers are:
Compare different photonics engineers
Photonics engineer vs. Maintainability engineer
Engineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects. They should also be well-versed in different construction or industrial materials, and they ensure that appropriate materials are used for the project. They also ensure that the projects meet the requirements of the groups that hired them. They create spaces that would both address the needs of the end-users and the industry standards. They also ensure that the projects they make would stand the test of time.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between photonics engineers and maintainability engineer. For instance, photonics engineer responsibilities require skills such as "modulators," "labview," "fiber optic," and "mems." Whereas a maintainability engineer is skilled in "failure modes," "fmeca," "engineering drawings," and "fault tree analysis." This is part of what separates the two careers.
On average, maintainability engineers reach lower levels of education than photonics engineers. Maintainability engineers are 12.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 16.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Photonics engineer vs. Commercial engineer
Each career also uses different skills, according to real photonics engineer resumes. While photonics engineer responsibilities can utilize skills like "modulators," "labview," "fiber optic," and "mems," commercial engineers use skills like "hvac," "plumbing," "customer support," and "technical training."
Commercial engineers earn lower levels of education than photonics engineers in general. They're 6.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 16.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Photonics engineer vs. Engineer
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, photonics engineers are more likely to have skills like "labview," "fiber optic," "mems," and "critical device." But a engineer is more likely to have skills like "python," "cloud," "c #," and "aws."
Engineers typically earn lower educational levels compared to photonics engineers. Specifically, they're 9.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 15.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Photonics engineer vs. Mathematical engineer
Types of photonics engineer
Updated January 8, 2025
