<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I was almost positive that I was going to be a doctor, but recently, I've been interested in possibly getting into the field of nanotechnology. I'm very superficial when it comes to money, and I was wondering how much people in this field typically earn? I don't mind (and would in fact like) to work up to a management position, so is it possible that I can earn 150k through this field? More importantly, what would be a good college major to pursue for someone who wants to go into this field?</p>
<p>Yes it's possible to earn that much as an engineer. It really depends on what kind of nanotech you want to get into. If you want to get into MEMS (Micro-Electromechanical Systems), you can major in MechE or EE. Biomedical Engineering is also an alternative if you are interested in BioMEMS.</p>
<p>Given that nanotech is still an incipient/emerging and a heavily science-based field, I'd say earning a PhD first is probably the best way of getting into the area. Berkeley and Cornell in particular seem to have outstanding nanotech graduate programs, but other top 10 EE universities are catching up fast.</p>
<p>At the moment, (non-traditional) nano is not a high money field at all because it is still largely in the research phase.</p>
<p>Well, typically, in R&D fields such as nanotech, you'll get paid a normal professional salary (~$70-100k). I guess if you want to make big bucks invent something awesome or do some breakthrough stuff. Of course, you need to be talented/lucky.</p>
<p>Most companies reward engineers/scientists for inventions/major contributions or something of the sort. For instance, at a place like JPL, if you come up with something, there are various tiers of compensation- They can do a direct reward. They can own part of the patent but give you some rights/royalties. They also can just give you the patent, if Caltech (and then) NASA does not want it.</p>
<p>From what I hear, most big companies do something like this.</p>