Optical Coating Engineer

Corning is one of the world’s leading innovators in glass, ceramic, and materials science. From the depths of the ocean to the farthest reaches of space, our technologies push the boundaries of what’s possible. Our people break through limitations and expectations daily, helping move our company—and the world—forward. At Corning, you can help connect the unconnected, drive the future of automobiles, transform at-home entertainment, and ensure the delivery of lifesaving medicines.

About the role

As a member of the Advanced Optics Division Engineering Optical Thin Film Coating group, you will define and develop optical thin film coatings and manufacturing processes that build on Corning’s existing knowledge base to move products into coating production. This is a hands-on engineering/manufacturing role working in collaboration with the Division Engineering Optical Design, Mechanical Design, and System Test teams, as well as the Development Engineering, Plant Engineering, and Program Management teams.

Responsibilities

• Design robust, cost-effective coating production processes using existing methods that meet customer specifications.
• Specify cleaning, material handling, storage procedures, and metrology methods to characterize coating performance within the coating process flow.
• Manage coating designs and process recipe portfolio.
• Transfer knowledge of new coating designs, processes, and product characteristics into manufacturing.
• Provide training as needed, create coating recipes, work instructions, process sheets, and define measurement requirements for new products.
• Interface with Development and Optical Design teams to understand new coating fundamentals and processing requirements.
• Analyze coating properties impact to system-level performance specifications; assess technical trade-offs and risks.
• Utilize in-house developed software to model system-level coating performance, including transmission uniformity, polarization and retardance characteristics, coating thickness variation, and perform tolerancing studies and Monte Carlo simulations.
• Engage with Mechanical Design team to design and fabricate prototype and production optical element tooling, customized coating chamber hardware, and metrology tools.
• Provide engineering support to Division Engineering Technicians; define test activities, process set-up, hardware evaluation, measurements, and analysis of results.
• Assist Program Management to estimate costs, labor hours, and manage overall coating aspects of projects.
• Provide input for process and product transfer tollgates.
• Participate in weekly project meetings, customer and design review meetings; work directly with customers.
• Support System Test team with customized coatings for test benches and other metrology applications.
• Utilize Design for Manufacturing principles to determine optimal manufacturing strategies and Manufacturing Engineering Excellence (MEE) practices to solve technical problems and formulate mechanistic understanding of coating processes.
• Lead projects and activities furthering coating technology and metrology capabilities, and document intellectual property via internal reports, invention disclosures, and patent applications.

Requirements

• B.S. degree (M.S. preferred) in Optical Science/Engineering, Physics, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Ceramic Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering.
• 5+ years of optical coating design and manufacturing experience, ideally in the UV and visible wavelength ranges.

Skills

• Coating and optical design/modeling software: FilmStar, OptiLayer, WVASE, UniformityPro, Code V.
• Thin film characterization: spectrophotometer, ellipsometer, SEM, TEM, FTIR, SIMS, MIL spec testing.
• Electron beam, thermal evaporation, and ion-assisted deposition.
• High-vacuum practice: vacuum chamber operation, system control, and support equipment.
• Experience with optical substrate materials: optics handling, cleaning, and inspecting.
• Contamination control and cleanroom operations.
• Specifying capital equipment configuration and acceptance testing.
• Programming: MATLAB, Python, MS Excel.
• Mechanical ability: experienced with mechanical design and fabrication techniques; ability to read and interpret mechanical drawings and specifications.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Critical thinking to solve problems quickly and efficiently; determine root cause using Statistical and Hypothesis Tree problem-solving methodologies.
• Ability to interact within a team of multi-disciplinary engineers and at all levels of the organization (Production Technicians to Senior Leadership).

Schedule

• Typical first shift production hours, Monday to Friday, 8 AM – 5 PM.
• Extra and off-hours may be required during times of heightened project activity to meet deliverables.
• Travel: less than 10%. Typical travel includes training, networking opportunities, customer visits, technical conferences, and benchmarking activities as required.

Pay

The range for this position is $112,902.00 - $155,240.00 assuming full-time status. Starting pay for the successful applicant is dependent on a variety of job-related factors, including but not limited to geographic location, market demands, experience, training, and education.

Benefits

• Company-wide bonuses and long-term incentives aligned with key business results.
• 100% company-paid pension benefit with fixed contributions that grow throughout your career.
• Matching contributions to your 401(k) savings plan, with total contributions reaching between 7% and 12% of your pay, depending on age and years of service.
• Health and well-being benefits: medical, dental, vision, paid parental leave, family building support, fitness, company-paid life insurance, disability, disease management programs, paid time off, and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• Recognition program to celebrate successes and reward exceptional contributions.