MEMS and sensor engineer
Mechanical engineering at the scale where intuition stops working. It sits inside the Israeli semiconductor industry, which is what makes it one of the better-paid specialisations.
What the work actually is
You design mechanical structures measured in microns: resonators, accelerometers, gyroscopes, pressure sensors. Scaling laws mean surface forces dominate volume forces, so almost everything you learned about designing a machine points the wrong way and has to be relearned.
The design is inseparable from the process. You cannot specify a geometry the fab cannot etch, so a large part of the job is understanding the process flow well enough to design inside it.
Cycles are slow and expensive. A wafer run takes months, which makes modelling and simulation carry far more weight than in macro-scale design.
The course chain
In the order worth taking them. Each one links to what it covers, when it runs and what it needs first.
- 0542-4722Introduction to MEMSDepartment electives · Semester B · 5h
- 0542-4220Theory of vibrationsCore: solids · Semester A · 4h
- 0512-1206Basic electronics for mechanical engineeringDepartment electives · Not fixed · 5.5h
- 0512-2508Electronic devicesFaculty electives · Not fixed · 4h
- 0512-4700Micro and nano electronics technologiesFaculty electives · Not fixed · 4h
- 0581-4131Lab in engineering materialsAdvanced laboratories · Semester A · 1h
What prepares you
MEMS is the anchor and it is the densest course in the catalogue at five hours. Vibrations first if you can, because resonators are the core application. Basic electronics and Electronic devices give you the sensing side, and Micro and nano electronics technologies is the process half, though it needs Electrical Engineering approval so ask early.
Closest neighbours
Mechatronics and embedded systems engineer
The person who makes the mechanical, the electrical and the code work as one thing. It is the most useful generalist role in the degree and the fastest route into equipment and automation companies.
Mechatronics and roboticsMiniaturised systems and materials5 coursesAdditive manufacturing engineer
Design and production by adding material rather than removing it. Israel is a global centre for this, so the route from these courses to these companies is unusually short.
Mechanical designMiniaturised systems and materials4 coursesAlgorithm engineer, from mechanical engineering
The crossing point from mechanical engineering into software and algorithms. It is the highest-leverage career move available in the degree and the least advertised.
Mechatronics and robotics5 courses
The part a page cannot give you.
What the interview actually asked, which team is worth joining, who to talk to. That comes from people who have done it, which is most of what the club is for.
Join CARNOTThis is our reading of where a mechanical degree goes in Israel, written from the course content and the shape of the local market. It is judgement, not data. We do not have interview questions, salaries or hiring numbers, and we would rather say so than invent them. If you have sat one of these interviews, tell us and the page gets better.