Also called: High-Speed Camera Engineer, Test Range Photo-Optics Specialist
Films explosions, crash tests and rocket launches at up to a million frames per second so engineers can see what happened in a blink.
Before dawn at a test range you aim tracking cameras at a missile launch and sync them to the countdown. Another day, in a crash-test lab, you light a car sled so brightly it looks like noon, then step through the footage frame by frame to measure how fast a dummy's head moved.
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 physics, engineering or imaging science; some come from military photography.
Ways in: 4-year college, On-the-job training, Military. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Imaging Science, Physics, Mechanical Engineering, Photography.
Growing about average. Steady at test ranges, crash labs and research labs.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI auto-tracks motion in footage; rigging cameras at blasts and launches and planning tricky shots stay human.
Classes: Physics, Photography or video production, Algebra II.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-3029.
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.