My parents are pushing me to electrical engineering, because they don’t think optical engineering is a good enough major. I would like to know of the jobs associated with optical engineering. Also, I have an in state school that offers optical engineering that is cheaper than the school that my parents want me to go to; finances are not the issue. (UAH vs. Auburn)
How are the job prospects for optical engineers? The primary concern of my parents, is whether or not I’ll get a job after graduation.
I am an electrical engineer working in the optical field. There are good prospects for optical engineers, working in communications and remote sensing (including not limited to both astronomy and defense). That having been said, I would be wary of locking yourself into a particular specialty so early in your studies - OE is in UAH’s ECE department, but once you get into your coursework you may find that you prefer some other area of EE better, and you want to make sure that you can switch back into ECE if that happens. Career wise, there is no particular advantage of an OE degree over an EE degree with a specialization in optics.
There are two really prominent undergraduate programs for Optical Engineering. One is at the University of Arizona and the other is at the University of Rochester. I myself got my undergraduate degree in Optical Sciences and Engineering at the University of Arizona.
I think your parents’ concern comes from the fact that they may not fully understand what optical engineering is. It sounds really specialized (and in a way it is) however, because the technology to come out of this field is so new and cutting edge, there are applications everywhere. From communications (we send light thousands of miles through fiber optic cables) to defense (advanced optical systems discriminate and track hostile targets) to imaging (cameras, telescopes, etc.) to medicine (MRIs, X-Rays, etc.).
I myself chose optical engineering because I found the technology coming out of the field to be far and away more interesting than what is coming out of the popular engineering fields like electrical, mechanical, and computer engineering. I wanted to be a part of something fresh and new instead of becoming yet another electrical or mechanical engineer. And I am telling you right now, it was the best decision I could have made. I now work as a test engineer at a major defense contractor where my specialty is testing the sensors that go into one of our defense missiles.
You won’t have a problem with job prospects as an optical engineer. When I graduated, most of the people in my class who were not going straight to grad school received job offers. I have friends that work at defense contractors, camera companies, optics vendors, and more.
I recommend going to the society of optics and photonics website and reading the information they have about applications of optical engineering. Here is the link: http://spie.org. Good luck to you in choosing a major. Optical Engineering would be glad to have you!