FOCUS PHOTONICS WEST
Top technical roles hard to come by in photonics career progression
Jessica Rowbury reports from a panel session at Photonics West asking what makes a great place to work in the field of optics and photonics
T
he challenge for engineers and scientists wanting to advance their career but remain in a technical role, was a recurring theme of a panel session discussing what makes a good workplace within the optics and photonics industry. The round table, titled ‘Great workplaces in optics and photonics’, was held on 17 February during the Photonics West trade fair in San Francisco, USA. SPIE’s 2016 Optics and Photonics Salary
Report acted as a base for the conversation. The annual survey, the largest report of its kind within the global optics and photonics community, provides data on the employment and compensation patterns across regions and disciplines. Nearly 7,000 people across 105 countries took part in the survey, 37 per cent of which were from Europe and 30 per cent from the United States. One of several aspects the survey explored concerns job satisfaction and workplaces. It was
found that lack of advancement opportunities was one of the workplace challenges most frequently faced by respondents. During the roundtable discussion, the panellists pointed out that, because people are typically paid well within engineering disciplines, money becomes less of an issue and factors concerning career fulfilment become more crucial.
The panel members pointed to a challenge that many engineers and scientists working within optics and photonics companies face: for technical staff, it is often hard to move up in a company without having to move into a managerial position. ‘At Fibertek, there are less than 80 people
working in research and development. If I wanted to advance my hierarchy, I would have to take on a management role,’ said Christina Willis, laser scientist at Fibertek. ‘There are many scientists in my company that end up taking on more and more managerial responsibilities.
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have to end up taking more managerial responsibilities in order to progress,’ Willis added.
The panellists said that often the movement from technical to managerial is a natural part of working for a growing company; this was indeed the case for panel member Aaron Weinroth: ‘I am mostly on the business and management side rather than technical,’ noted Weinroth, who is vice president of technology commercialisation at Tornado Spectral Systems. ‘It was something that happened naturally a few years ago. I was working for a small startup company.’ Although Weinroth said he enjoys his job role, it was also mentioned during the panel discussion that moving technical staff into management is sometimes not in the employee’s, or the company’s, best interest. ‘I think this is something that a lot of companies face, big or small. Very often, as a company grows, many of the scientists and technical people have to take on more of a managerial role, and sometimes... they are not the best people to do that,’ said Nishant Mohan, director of product management and marketing, systems division, Wasatch Photonics.
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