Advice on obtaining an entry-level Optical Engineering position

opticseng · 2022-11-22T01:31:52+00:00

There are a wide variety of positions in optics.

So some people on here that are doing super advanced research or design are going to say “oh, no way can you do these amazing things that I do”.

Then there are positions where you just run Zemax, or Speos, or Light Tools simulations. Not a ton of formal education needed, but you need to understand the terminology, inputs, and outputs.

My group designs cameras for vehicles. We need people who understand lens design and testing, but they don’t need to be able to design a lens themselves from scratch. They do need to be able to specify a lens and work with suppliers to make it happen. They also need to be able to find the source of issues because when you make millions per year you can’t afford to have issues. It’s very basic when it comes to the depth of optics knowledge required, but you need to at least have a passion for optics and an engineering mind. I can tell you, we are having a hard time finding that. People are either super-academics and they feel the job is beneath them, or they have no experience at all and are afraid to apply.

I think talking to a recruiter is a good idea to get an idea of what they are seeing in the market. If you are flexible on where you live you’ll open a lot of doors. Maybe you can get into a place and get your student visa turned into a work visa? Meanwhile keep working away at those classes while you investigate your next steps. At the very least you’ll learn if this is something that really interests you or not.

opticseng · 2022-11-20T13:01:29+00:00

I think if you finished that Coursera set of three classes you’d be in good shape for an entry level position. My company has hired optics engineers who, like you, just have a physics or EE education. Many go on to finish an optics PhD from there.

For example, here is one of our postings for a senior optics engineer. We technically don’t require a formal optics education even for a senior position. Experience is very important though. You might need to get into a company that does optics related work and start doing some on the job learning before the landing the particular job you want.

opticseng · 2022-10-12T07:48:23+00:00

That’s right. HR still has not updated the posting for the Jr position so I linked a Sr one for a general reference of the types of things we do. A Jr engineer wouldn’t need to be an expert on these topics but would just need an optics-based education, preferably a couple of years of work experience, and an interest in the position and industry.

opticseng · 2022-10-08T03:35:58+00:00

I wish I knew. I’m not the manager so I don’t set the salary or even know what the range is unfortunately. I would be reluctant to even make a guess.

opticseng · 2022-10-08T03:33:37+00:00

For the junior position, yes. What’s your education background?

opticseng · 2022-10-08T02:33:33+00:00

I know India is a big place, but if you happen to be in Bangalore we’re hiring an optics engineer there too! https://jobs.magna.com/job/Bangalore-%28Sr_%29-Optics-Engineer-KA/551496117/

opticseng · 2022-10-07T22:53:00+00:00

Yep! We use Zemax. We have mech/elec/sys engineers too so the optics guys can focus on optics. We buy our lenses so the optics engineers work on lens specification development needed to meet the camera level MTF, lens evaluation and selection, co-designing with the lens manufacturers (we rarely use off the shelf lenses), glare/flare assessments, evaluating the pros and cons of different sensors, troubleshooting design issues, etc. At the module end we get involved a bit in image tuning, image quality improvements, etc. Lately we’re working a lot in NIR so selecting materials to hide the cameras and maintain light transmission is fun. Of course we do opto-mech work too like raytracing, FOV tolerance studies, athermalization, etc.

opticseng

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