Also called: Time and Frequency Physicist, Timekeeping Scientist
Builds the atomic clocks that keep official time and make GPS work.
At NIST in Boulder or the US Naval Observatory, you tune lasers that make atoms 'tick' trillions of times a second. The newest optical clocks would lose less than a second over the age of the universe.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Doctorate (PhD), about 10 years after high school. PhD in physics, usually atomic or optical physics.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Physics, Optical Sciences.
Growing faster than average (about 7% over 10 years). Growth figure is for physicists and astronomers combined.
Low risk for 10 years. AI helps stabilize lasers and analyze data, but building next-generation atomic clocks is hands-on frontier lab work.
Classes: AP Physics C, AP Calculus BC, Electronics CTE.
Official data: O*NET occupation 19-2012.
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