Also called: High-Voltage Test Engineer, Impulse Test Engineer
Makes artificial lightning bolts of millions of volts in a giant lab to prove power-line equipment won't fail in a storm.
Inside a building as tall as a gym, you wire a new power-line insulator to an impulse generator and step behind the safety fence. With a countdown and a crack like thunder, a spark jumps several feet through the air. You study the waveform and photos to see whether the insulator held or flashed over.
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 engineering.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Electrical Engineering, Electrical Engineering Technology.
Growing faster than average. Grid expansion and new equipment for wind, solar and data centers need testing.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Software automates data capture and reports, but setting up and judging real high-voltage tests stays human.
Classes: AP Physics, AP Calculus, Electronics CTE class, Computer programming.
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.