Also called: FA Engineer
Takes apart broken chips, layer by layer, using electron microscopes and focused ion beams to find exactly what went wrong.
A customer's chip died in the field. You slice a cross-section through it with a beam of ions, image it with an electron microscope at a million times magnification, and find a tiny void in a copper wire. Your report sends the fab hunting for the cause.
Estimate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 5 years after high school. Bachelor's in electrical or materials engineering or physics; often a master's.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Electrical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, Physics.
Growing much faster than average. No separate BLS projection; the CHIPS Act is funding many new US fabs.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI speeds image analysis and pattern matching; skilled microscope work and explaining failures remain human, with fewer junior slots.
Classes: AP Physics, AP Chemistry, AP Calculus.
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.