Optical Engineers make use of optics (study of behaviour of light) to design and build devices through the use of light and optical technology. This requires them to understand and apply the science of light.
Personal Competencies
You like Science and Maths
You can use a computer to solve a scientific problem
You like to do experiments
Entry Pathway
1. Complete 10+2 in Science stream with Physics, Chemistry and Biology
2. Complete Bachelor’s degree in Optical Instrumentation/ Optics and Optoelectronics/Aerospace Engineering/Avionics/ Electronics and Electrical Engineering and any related field.
OR
Complete Bachelor's degree followed by Master’s in the same or related field
Please check the duration of the course during enrolment
Where will you study?
The course is offered by Department of Engineering/Physics. This list of institutes is indicative only
Government Institutes 1. Delhi College of Engineering, New Delhi 2. University of Delhi, New Delhi 3. Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 4. IIT, Delhi 5. National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh 6. Alagappa Chettiar College of Engineering and Technology, Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu 7. Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 8. Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
Private Institutes (Please check if Institute is affiliated and accredited with UGC before applying) 1. Sri Ganesh College of Engineering and Technology, Hissar, Haryana 2. Amity University, Lucknow 3. Babu Banarasi Das University, Lucknow 4. Sharda University, Noida
* NPTEL - National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning. It is by the Government of India and offers a variety of courses in an audio-video form
Fees
The approx. course fee ranges between approx. INR 30,000 - 1,50,000* for the full course.
*(The above-mentioned figures are approximate numbers. This will vary from Institute to Institute)
Scholarships & Loans
Scholarships
• Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana Scholarship - This scholarship is provided to students enrolled in the first year of their engineering undergraduate course. Eligibility includes an aptitude test. It is awarded by the Government of India for economically backward students who have a strong aptitude for scientific research.*
• Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship - About 20,000 such engineering scholarships are awarded by the Ministry of Minority Affairs every year. The full course fees of awardees is directly paid to their institutions under this scheme.*
• Indian Oil Educational Scholarship - The IOC Ltd offers 300 scholarships every year to eligible students. Students need to be enrolled in an undergraduate course. The scholarship particularly focuses on students with physical disabilities, women and students from North East and J&K.*
• National Scholarship Portal - Visit http://www.scholarships.gov.in the National Scholarship Portal. Under this portal there are central government schemes offered by different departments, UGC/AICTE Schemes and State Schemes.*
• Scholarships are made available by institutes themselves based on merit.*
*(Availability of these scholarships vary from time to time)
Loans
• VidyaLakshmi, http://www.vidyalakshmi.co.in, is a portal for students seeking education loan. This portal has been developed under the guidance of the Department of Financial Services, (Ministry of Finance), Department of Higher Education (Ministry of Human Resource Development) and Indian Banks Association (IBA).
• Some states have student credit cards with low interest rates, for instance, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, etc.
• All banks give education loans.
Where will you work?
Places of Work: Optical Engineers are recruited by Aerospace industry, Electronic and lighting industry, Textiles sector, companies producing scientific instruments or optomechanical equipment (microscopes, telescopes, lasers, sensors, fibre-optic cables) and Government agencies among others.
Work environment: You may be expected to work outdoors and travel locally. You will supervise the workers in a fishery and divers. You may work the usual nine-to-five schedule, although you may be required to work late and on weekends in a bid to complete research projects or write reports.
Opportunities for work exist for differently abled in this field
Joshua Berrier is an optical engineer at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. He’s served on more than 20 space flight projects such as the James Webb Space Telescope, Roman Space Telescope, and Parker Solar Probe. Currently, he's the AI&T lead for a space-qualified rover lidar which will be the first 3D imaging system of its kind designed to support wheeled vehicles on the lunar, Martian, and other extraterrestrial surfaces.*
Optical Engineer
NCS Code: NA | E0631. Complete 10+2 in Science stream with Physics, Chemistry and Biology
2. Complete Bachelor’s degree in Optical Instrumentation/ Optics and Optoelectronics/Aerospace Engineering/Avionics/ Electronics and Electrical Engineering and any related field.
OR
Complete Bachelor's degree followed by Master’s in the same or related field
Please check the duration of the course during enrolment
The course is offered by Department of Engineering/Physics.
This list of institutes is indicative only
Government Institutes
1. Delhi College of Engineering, New Delhi
2. University of Delhi, New Delhi
3. Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
4. IIT, Delhi
5. National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh
6. Alagappa Chettiar College of Engineering and Technology, Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu
7. Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
8. Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
Private Institutes
(Please check if Institute is affiliated and accredited with UGC before applying)
1. Sri Ganesh College of Engineering and Technology, Hissar, Haryana
2. Amity University, Lucknow
3. Babu Banarasi Das University, Lucknow
4. Sharda University, Noida
Information on the institute rankings can be found at - https://www.nirfindia.org/2022/Ranking.html
Online Courses
• NPTEL* Swayam - https://onlinecourses.nptel.ac.in/noc23_ee76/preview
• Coursera - https://www.coursera.org/specializations/optical-engineering
* NPTEL - National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning. It is by the Government of India and offers a variety of courses in an audio-video form
The approx. course fee ranges between approx. INR 30,000 - 1,50,000* for the full course.
*(The above-mentioned figures are approximate numbers. This will vary from Institute to Institute)
Scholarships
• Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana Scholarship - This scholarship is provided to students enrolled in the first year of their engineering undergraduate course. Eligibility includes an aptitude test. It is awarded by the Government of India for economically backward students who have a strong aptitude for scientific research.*
• Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship - About 20,000 such engineering scholarships are awarded by the Ministry of Minority Affairs every year. The full course fees of awardees is directly paid to their institutions under this scheme.*
• Indian Oil Educational Scholarship - The IOC Ltd offers 300 scholarships every year to eligible students. Students need to be enrolled in an undergraduate course. The scholarship particularly focuses on students with physical disabilities, women and students from North East and J&K.*
• National Scholarship Portal - Visit http://www.scholarships.gov.in the National Scholarship Portal. Under this portal there are central government schemes offered by different departments, UGC/AICTE Schemes and State Schemes.*
• Visit http://www.buddy4study.com a gateway to scholarships starting from Class XI.*
• Scholarships are made available by institutes themselves based on merit.*
*(Availability of these scholarships vary from time to time)
Loans
• VidyaLakshmi, http://www.vidyalakshmi.co.in, is a portal for students seeking education loan. This portal has been developed under the guidance of the Department of Financial Services, (Ministry of Finance), Department of Higher Education (Ministry of Human Resource Development) and Indian Banks Association (IBA).
• Some states have student credit cards with low interest rates, for instance, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, etc.
• All banks give education loans.
Places of Work: Optical Engineers are recruited by Aerospace industry, Electronic and lighting industry, Textiles sector, companies producing scientific instruments or optomechanical equipment (microscopes, telescopes, lasers, sensors, fibre-optic cables) and Government agencies among others.
Work environment: You may be expected to work outdoors and travel locally. You will supervise the workers in a fishery and divers. You may work the usual nine-to-five schedule, although you may be required to work late and on weekends in a bid to complete research projects or write reports.
Opportunities for work exist for differently abled in this field
Engineer → Project Manager/Project Engineer → Senior Product Manager/Senior Optical Engineer
The approx. salary of an optical engineer ranges between INR 26,800 - 1,66,667* per month.
Source: https://www.payscale.com/research/IN/Job=Optical_Engineer/Salary
*These figures are indicative and subject to change
Experts from the field
Joshua Berrier is an optical engineer at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. He’s served on more than 20 space flight projects such as the James Webb Space Telescope, Roman Space Telescope, and Parker Solar Probe. Currently, he's the AI&T lead for a space-qualified rover lidar which will be the first 3D imaging system of its kind designed to support wheeled vehicles on the lunar, Martian, and other extraterrestrial surfaces.*
Source: https://directory.imts.com/8_0/sessions/speaker-details.cfm?speakerid=168&
*The above information is for training purposes only and will not be used for any commercial gains
optical engineer, optomechanical engineer, fibre technician