Also called: Integrated Photonics Engineer, Photonic Chip Designer
Designs computer chips that move data with light instead of electricity, used in AI data centers and future computers.
You draw microscopic 'wires' for light, called waveguides, onto silicon chip layouts and simulate how light splits and combines. When chips come back from the factory, you test them under a microscope with tiny fiber probes. Companies like Intel, Nvidia, Broadcom, and startups compete hard for this skill.
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 electrical engineering, physics, or optics with chip-design experience.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $60k – $150k.
Majors to look at: Electrical Engineering, Physics, Optical Sciences, Materials Science.
Growing much faster than average. One of the hottest corners of optics thanks to AI data centers; no separate BLS projection.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI helps chip layout and simulation, but AI data centers are driving huge demand for light-based chip designers.
Classes: AP Physics C, AP Calculus BC, AP Computer Science.
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.