Will “Optical Fabrication Technician” be Replaced By Robots? 🤔

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Job Description

Build, install, test, or maintain optical or fiber optic equipment, such as lasers, lenses, or mirrors, using spectrometers, interferometers, or related equipment.

Job Details

The SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) code is 17-3029.08

☝️ Information based on the reference occupation “Photonics Technicians”.

Also Known As…

Tasks for “Optical Fabrication Technician”

Set up or operate prototype or test apparatus, such as control consoles, collimators, recording equipment, or cables.
Mix, pour, or use processing chemicals or gases according to safety standards or established operating procedures.
Monitor inventory levels and order supplies as necessary.
Splice fibers, using fusion splicing or other techniques.
Assist engineers in the development of new products, fixtures, tools, or processes.
Document procedures, such as calibration of optical or fiber optic equipment.
Fabricate sensors to be used to control wind turbines.
Recommend optical or optic equipment design or material changes to reduce costs or processing times.
Build prototype optomechanical devices for use in equipment such as aerial cameras, gun sights, or telescopes.
Build photonics tools to be applied to electrical grids to detect hot spots, such as failing insulators or conductors.
Develop solar power sources for lasers used in fiber optics.
Assemble devices or equipment to be used in green technology applications, including solar energy, high efficiency solid state lighting, energy management, smart buildings, or green processes.
Fabricate devices, such as optoelectronic or semiconductor devices.
Perform laser seam welding, heat treatment, or hard facing operations.
Repair or calibrate products, such as surgical lasers.
Adjust or maintain equipment, such as lasers, laser systems, microscopes, oscilloscopes, pulse generators, power meters, beam analyzers, or energy measurement devices.
Design, build, or modify fixtures used to assemble parts.
Monitor mechanical factors, such as turbine load or strain information.
Assemble components of energy-efficient optical communications systems involving photonic switches, optical backplanes, or optoelectronic interfaces.
Terminate, cure, polish, or test fiber cables with mechanical connectors.
Assemble or adjust parts or related electrical units of prototypes to prepare for testing.
Perform diagnostic analyses of processing steps, using analytical or metrological tools, such as microscopy, profilometry, or ellipsometry devices.
Compute or record photonic test data.
Optimize photonic process parameters by making prototype or production devices.
Set up or operate assembly or processing equipment, such as lasers, cameras, die bonders, wire bonders, dispensers, reflow ovens, soldering irons, die shears, wire pull testers, temperature or humidity chambers, or optical spectrum analyzers.
Test or perform failure analysis for optomechanical or optoelectrical products, according to test plans.
Maintain clean working environments, according to clean room standards.
Assemble fiber optical, optoelectronic, or free-space optics components, subcomponents, assemblies, or subassemblies.
Lay out cutting lines for machining, using drafting tools.
Assist scientists or engineers in the conduct of photonic experiments.

Related Technology & Tools

Fire extinguishers
Multifunction digital multimeters
Phase-shifting interferometers
Laser welders
Binocular light compound microscopes
Depth gauges
Digital logic probes
Positioning stages
Spectrophotometers
Coordinate measuring machines CMM
Diode lasers
Ion lasers
Laser marking machines
Hardness testers
Plasma strippers
Ellipsometers
Gas lasers
Die saws
Twyman-Green interferometers
Fusion splicers
Lab jacks
Reflow ovens
Loupes
Mechanical steppers
Wire bonders
Calipers
Autocollimators
Optical power meters
Temperature chambers
Wire saws
Laboratory forceps
Soldering irons
Computerized numerical control CNC lathes
Semiconductor detectors
Optical comparators
Laser heat treatment equipment
Micropositioners
Analog oscilloscopes
Hand calculators
Michelson interferometers
Solid state lasers
Collimators
Wavelength meters
Die shears
Protective gloves
Oscilloscopes
Computerized numerical control CNC machining centers
Rapid thermal annealers RTA
Laser drills
Bench refractometers
Die bonders
Semiconductor parameter analyzers
Fiber optic fault locators
Signal generators
Spherometers
Biosafety cabinets
Fabry-Perot interferometers
Optical rails
Protective gowns
Personal computers
Digital oscilloscopes
Logic pulsers
Safety glasses
Chemical protective face shields
Vernier micrometers
Optical spectrum analyzers
Non contact profilometers
Humidity chambers
Optical alignment scopes
Scanning electron microscopes SEM
Computerized numerical control CNC drill presses
Optical mounts
Cutoff saws
Wire pull testers
Atomic force microscopes AFM
Fiber polishers
Liquid dye lasers
Wafer bonding systems
Isolators
Digital logic analyzers
Fiber cleavers
Excimer lasers
Sputter deposition systems
Electron cyclotron resonance ECR reactive ion etchers RIE
Laser cutting machines
Electron beam evaporators
Chemical vapor deposition CVD systems
Bit error rate testers BERT
Micrometers
Contact profilometers
Abrasive grinding machines
Magnifiers
Common path interferometers
Mach-Zehnder interferometers
Shearing interferometers
Dataloggers
Computerized numerical control CNC band saws
Spectrometers
Diffractometers
Photoelectric power meters
Monochromators
Vacuum deposition systems

Database software
Computer aided manufacturing CAM software
Word processing software
Image processing software
Web browser software
The MathWorks MATLAB
SAP
Computer aided design CAD software
Data acquisition software
Microsoft Office
Presentation software
ZEMAX Optical Design Program
Statistical analysis software
Microsoft Excel