FlightWay / Careers / Nanosystems Engineers

Engineering & Science

Nanosystems Engineers

Design, develop, or supervise the production of materials, devices, or systems of unique molecular or macromolecular composition, applying principles of nanoscale physics and electrical, chemical,…

Sector: Engineering & Science
Preparation: Zone 5 — extensive preparation needed
O*NET code: 17-2199.09

What you'll actually do

The activities O*NET rates highest for this occupation, most important first. Numbers are out of 100.

Analyzing Data or Information

central to the job — rated 91/100 for importance.
Making Decisions and Solving Problems

central to the job — rated 87/100 for importance.
Getting Information

a major part of the work — rated 83/100 for importance.
Thinking Creatively

a major part of the work — rated 82/100 for importance.
Processing Information

a major part of the work — rated 80/100 for importance.
Working with Computers

a major part of the work — rated 80/100 for importance.

Design, develop, or supervise the production of materials, devices, or systems of unique molecular or macromolecular composition, applying principles of nanoscale physics and electrical, chemical, or biological engineering.

What it takes

Two numbers per line: the level the work expects, and how important it is to doing the job well. Both are O*NET ratings, already on a 0–100 scale.

Skills

Reading Comprehension

Needed at a high level (71/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.
Critical Thinking

Needed at a high level (70/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.
Science

Needed at a high level (68/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.
Speaking

Needed at a high level (61/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.
Active Learning

Needed at a high level (70/100), and rated 72/100 for importance.

Knowledge

Engineering and Technology

Needed at expert level (83/100), and rated 91/100 for importance.
Physics

Needed at expert level (84/100), and rated 90/100 for importance.
Chemistry

Needed at expert level (82/100), and rated 82/100 for importance.
Mathematics

Needed at expert level (79/100), and rated 79/100 for importance.

Abilities

Oral Comprehension

Needed at expert level (77/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.
Written Comprehension

Needed at expert level (77/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.
Deductive Reasoning

Needed at a high level (71/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.
Inductive Reasoning

Needed at a high level (70/100), and rated 75/100 for importance.

How people get in

O*NET places this occupation in Zone 5 — extensive preparation needed. That is a statement about what employers typically require, not a rule about you.

Education

Graduate school — a master's, a PhD, an MD or a JD, depending on the field.

Experience

More than five years of related experience is common before the title is yours.

Training

This is a long runway. Start the prerequisites early or the timeline slips a year at a time.

What it pays

These are typical engineering compensation bands by employer tier — sector-level figures, not a measured salary for Nanosystems Engineers specifically. Treat them as the shape of the market, then check a real posting for the number.

SpaceX · NVIDIA · Boeing

$120k – $200k+

Manufacturing Corps

$85k – $140k

Local Engineering Firms

$65k – $110k

How the work tends to run

Each line below is read off a single O*NET activity rating for this occupation — named, so you can disagree with it.

Most of the day happens at a screen.From “Working with Computers”
You own decisions rather than execute someone else’s.From “Making Decisions and Solving Problems”
There is real room to invent — the answer is not in a manual.From “Thinking Creatively”
You run equipment, and running it well is a skill in itself.From “Controlling Machines and Processes”

How FlightWay scores your fit against this

No black box. Here is the whole method, factor by factor.

1. You answer a short quiz: Your answers build a profile across the same 161 O*NET dimensions this page is describing — skills, knowledge, abilities and work activities. Same axes, so the comparison is like-for-like.
2. We correlate the two profiles: Fit is a mean-centered cosine — a correlation between the SHAPE of your profile and the shape of Nanosystems Engineers. Centering matters: raw similarity between any two occupations sits at 0.70–0.85 because all work shares a common profile, so without it every career would look like a match.
3. The number you see is personality fit only: "Would I want this work" and "am I ready for this work" are different questions, and averaging them answers neither. So readiness — what your résumé, coursework and projects prove — is scored separately and shown next to fit, never blended into it.
4. Every factor is visible: You can open any match and see which dimensions pushed it up and which pulled it down. If you disagree with the number, you can see exactly where it came from.

More in Engineering & Science

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See your fit for Nanosystems Engineers

Ten questions, about 90 seconds. You get your match against Nanosystems Engineers and 782+ other real careers — with the reasoning shown.

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Occupational data on this page comes from the O*NET 30.3 Database, published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). O*NET is a registered trademark of USDOL/ETA. FlightWay is not endorsed by, and USDOL/ETA is not responsible for, anything built on that data — see our terms. What is ours is the comparison, the score and the plan.