Optical Thin Film Engineer Jobs in Rochester, NY

Requisition Number: 77498

The company built on breakthroughs. ​  
Join us.​                    

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.  ​  

How do we do this? With our people. They break through limitations and expectations – not once in a career, but every day. They help move our company, and the world, forward. ​  

​At Corning, there are endless possibilities for making an impact. You can help connect the unconnected, drive the future of automobiles, transform at-home entertainment, and ensure the delivery of lifesaving medicines. And so much more.​   

Come break through with us.  

Corning’s businesses are ever-evolving to best serve our customers, industries, and consumers. Today, we accelerate and transform life sciences, mobile consumer electronics, optical communications, display, automotive, and solar markets. We are changing the world with: 

• Trusted products that accelerate drug discovery, development, and delivery to save lives
• Damage-resistant cover glass to enhance the devices that keep us connected
• Optical fiber, wireless technologies, and connectivity solutions to carry information and ideas at the speed of light
• Precision glass for advanced displays to deliver richer experiences 
• Auto glass and ceramics to drive cleaner, safer, and smarter transportation 
• Solar polysilicon, wafers, and innovative photovoltaic modules, enabling low-cost solar energy solutions

Scope of Position:

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.

Major 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.  Comprehension of coating properties impact to system-level performance specifications; analyze technical trade-offs and risks.
• Utilize in-house developed software to model system-level coating performance; 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; experienced working 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.

Required Education and Experience:

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

Desired Skills and Experience:

• Coating and optical design / modeling software experience - 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.
• Experienced specifying capital equipment configuration and acceptance testing.
• Programming (MATLAB, Python, MS Excel).
• Excellent 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 by leveraging 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).

Travel Requirements:

• Less than 10%.  Typical travel includes training, networking opportunities, customer visits, technical conferences, and benchmarking activities as required.

Hours of work:

• Typical first shift production hours, M - F, 8AM - 5PM.  Extra and off-hours may be required during times of heightened project activity to meet deliverables.

This position does not support immigration sponsorship.

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. 

A job that shapes a life.  

Corning offers you the total package.  

We prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, veteran status or any other legally protected status.

Corning is committed to providing equal employment opportunities and considers requests for reasonable accommodations in accordance with applicable laws. Individuals with disabilities or sincerely held religious beliefs may request reasonable accommodations to participate in the application or interview process, perform essential job functions, or access other benefits and privileges of employment. To submit a request for reasonable accommodation related to disability or religion, please contact us at accommodations@corning.com.