Also called: Programmable Logic Engineer
Programs reconfigurable chips used in radar, satellites, high-speed trading, and medical scanners.
You design custom hardware logic that processes radar signals in microseconds, then load it onto a chip and test it on a lab bench with oscilloscopes.
Estimate; high-frequency trading firms pay much more.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in electrical/computer engineering.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering.
Growing faster than average. Steady demand in defense, aerospace, and finance.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI writes more FPGA code, but timing closure and hardware debugging in radar and space systems stay human.
Classes: AP Computer Science A, AP Physics, AP Calculus.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2061.
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