Optical Design Engineer
Design illumination and projection optical systems for DLP-based industrial platforms using Zemax/OpticStudio and FRED.
About the role
This role is responsible for the overall optical system in Texas Instruments DLP devices, evaluation modules, and systems. You will design optical systems for DLP-based industrial platforms across UV, visible, and NIR spectra, develop reference designs, and support product characterization through ramp.
What you'll do
- Design and optimize illumination and projection optical systems for DLP-based industrial applications including maskless lithography, resin 3D printing, machine vision structured light 3D scanning, spectroscopy, and optical networking.
- Develop and maintain optical system simulation models using tools such as Zemax/OpticStudio and/or FRED to evaluate performance, stray light, tolerance, diffraction efficiency, and optical throughput.
- Create reference optical designs, design guidelines, and application notes to support customer system integration and evaluate customer optical designs.
- Collaborate with DMD product and applications teams to define optical requirements, evaluate prototype DMDs, and support characterization.
- Build and operate optical test benches to measure and characterize DMD optical performance, illumination uniformity, wavefront, diffraction patterns, and colorimetry.
- Support diffraction modeling, colorimetry analysis, and computer-generated hologram (CGH) development.
What you'll need
- Bachelor's degree in Optics/Optical Engineering, Physics, Electrical Engineering, ECE, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
- 2+ years of relevant engineering experience or research in optical system design or applied optics.
Nice to have
- Experience with optical design software such as Ansys Zemax OpticStudio, CODE V, FRED, LightTools, Lumerical, or equivalent.
- Hands-on experience designing and characterizing illumination or projection optical systems.
- Familiarity with digital micromirror (DMD), spatial light modulator (SLM), or phase light modulator (PLM) optical architecture and system integration.
- Knowledge of diffraction optics, wavefront analysis, or colorimetry.
- Experience with optical metrology and laboratory measurement techniques.
- World-wide travel capability.
More semiconductor jobs: Texas Instruments jobs · Hardware design jobs · Dallas jobs
This role has been open 0 days — well below the 47-day median for Hardware Systems Engineering roles.
Hardware Systems Engineering · AI ML Hardware
|
Open roles in category
1103
|
Median days open
47 d
|
Category median salary (all employers)
$150k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Texas Instruments | All employers we track in this specialty (1103 roles · 111 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 6 | 1103 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 39 | 6471 · 156 employers |
| Median days open | 13 d | 47 d (−34 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $150k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Intel Corporation · 81 open roles · median 31 d
- KLA Corporation · 63 open roles · median 59 d
- NVIDIA · 58 open roles · median 71 d
- Teradyne · 56 open roles · median 48 d
- Applied Materials · 54 open roles · median 50 d
- ASML · 52 open roles · median 27 d
How we counted: 1103 open Hardware Systems Engineering (AI ML Hardware) roles from 111 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 5 Nov 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there — it is counted in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family row. Figures refresh nightly.