Also called: Litho Engineer, EUV Engineer
Runs and improves the incredibly precise machines that print chip patterns with light.
You tune a $200 million EUV machine that prints features smaller than a virus. If the pattern is off by a few nanometers, an entire batch of chips can be ruined.
Estimate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Master's degree, about 6 years after high school. Bachelor's in physics or engineering; master's or PhD common.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Physics, Optical Engineering, Electrical Engineering.
Growing much faster than average. Small, high-demand specialty.
Low risk for 10 years. Running the world's most precise light machines is specialized lab and fab work with few experts.
Classes: AP Physics C, AP Calculus BC, AP Chemistry.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2199.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.