Also called: Supercomputing Engineer, Computational Scientist
Uses and optimizes supercomputers to simulate climate, nuclear physics, new materials, and more.
At a national lab, you help climate scientists run a simulation across 50,000 processors, then tune the code so it finishes in two days instead of two weeks.
Estimate based on national lab pay.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Doctorate (PhD), about 8 years after high school. Master's or PhD in a science or CS.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Computer Science, Physics, Applied Mathematics.
Growing faster than average. Steady growth with AI and exascale computing.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI surrogate models replace some simulations, but running science on supercomputers keeps experts needed.
Classes: AP Physics C, AP Calculus BC, AP Computer Science A.
Official data: O*NET occupation 15-1221.
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.