Also called: Ergonomics Engineer, Human-Systems Integration Engineer
Designs machines, cockpits and medical devices around how real people see, think, move and make mistakes.
You watch nurses use a new infusion pump in a fake hospital room and count every time someone presses the wrong button. Then you redesign the screen so the deadly mistake becomes almost impossible to make.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Master's degree, about 6 years after high school. Master's or PhD in human factors, industrial engineering or engineering psychology.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $60k – $150k.
Majors to look at: Human Factors Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Psychology.
Growing faster than average. Growing in medical devices, aviation and automotive.
Low risk for 10 years. AI helps analyze user studies; watching real people use devices and designing around human limits stay human.
Classes: AP Psychology, Statistics, Computer science, Art or design.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2112.
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.