Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician Cut, grind, and polish eyeglasses, contact lenses, or other precision optical elements. Assemble and mount lenses into frames or process other optical elements. Includes precision lens polishers or grinders, centerer-edgers, and lens mounters.
Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician is Also Know as
In different settings, Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician is titled as
- Edger Technician
- Finishing Lab Technician
- Lab Technician (Laboratory Technician)
- Lens Grinder and Polisher
- Line Operator
- Optical Lab Technician (Optical Laboratory Technician)
- Optical Technician
- Polisher
- Surfacing Technician
Education and Training of Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician
Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician is categorized in Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician
Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.
Education Required for Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician
These occupations usually require a high school diploma.
Degrees Related to Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician
- Bachelor in Ophthalmic Laboratory Technology/Technician
- Associate Degree Courses in Ophthalmic Laboratory Technology/Technician
- Masters Degree Courses in Ophthalmic Laboratory Technology/Technician
Training Required for Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician
Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician in different industries are
- Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand
- Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners
- Camera and Photographic Equipment Repairers
- Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Timing Device Assemblers and Adjusters
- Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
- Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
- Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic
- Etchers and Engravers
- Tool and Die Makers
- Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers
- Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers
- Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing
- Glass Blowers, Molders, Benders, and Finishers
- Opticians, Dispensing
- Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers
- Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
What Do Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician do?
- Adjust lenses and frames to correct alignment.
- Mount, secure, and align finished lenses in frames or optical assemblies, using precision hand tools.
- Mount and secure lens blanks or optical lenses in holding tools or chucks of cutting, polishing, grinding, or coating machines.
- Shape lenses appropriately so that they can be inserted into frames.
- Assemble eyeglass frames and attach shields, nose pads, and temple pieces, using pliers, screwdrivers, and drills.
- Inspect lens blanks to detect flaws, verify smoothness of surface, and ensure thickness of coating on lenses.
- Clean finished lenses and eyeglasses, using cloths and solvents.
- Select lens blanks, molds, tools, and polishing or grinding wheels, according to production specifications.
- Examine prescriptions, work orders, or broken or used eyeglasses to determine specifications for lenses, contact lenses, or other optical elements.
- Set dials and start machines to polish lenses or hold lenses against rotating wheels to polish them manually.
- Set up machines to polish, bevel, edge, or grind lenses, flats, blanks, or other precision optical elements.
- Repair broken parts, using precision hand tools and soldering irons.
- Position and adjust cutting tools to specified curvature, dimensions, and depth of cut.
- Inspect, weigh, and measure mounted or unmounted lenses after completion to verify alignment and conformance to specifications, using precision instruments.
- Remove lenses from molds and separate lenses in containers for further processing or storage.
- Lay out lenses and trace lens outlines on glass, using templates.
- Immerse eyeglass frames in solutions to harden, soften, or dye frames.
- Control equipment that coats lenses to alter their reflective qualities.
Qualities of Good Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician
- Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
- Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
Tools Used by Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician
- 3-way screwdrivers
- Angling pliers
- Argon lasers
- Ball cutters
- Bench polishers
- Bent post pliers
- Carbon dioxide CO2 lasers
- Chipping pliers
- Corneal topographers
- Cutting pliers
- Deblocking pliers
- Diagnostic retinoscopes
- Drill presses
- Edge polishers
- Electric soldering kits
- Exophthalometers
- Finger-piece pliers
- Flat nose pliers
- Flathead screwdrivers
- Frame adjusting pliers
- Frame shaping pliers
- Handheld tonometers
- Hex nut wrenches
- Keratometers
- Lab snips
- Lens coating machines
- Lens cutting machines
- Lens grinding machines
- Lens groovers
- Lens polishing machines
- Lens sizing pliers
- Lens thickness calipers
- Lens tinting equipment
- Lensometers
- Mini power drills
- Mini screwdrivers
- Neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet Nd:YAG lasers
- Nut wrenches
- Nylon-brass mallets
- Optical chain nose pliers
- Optical prisms
- Optical slit lamps
- Optical tweezers
- Pachymeters
- Pad removing tweezers
- pH testers
- Phillips screwdrivers
- Phoropters
- Potential acuity meters PAM
- Prescription lens aligners
- Pupillary distance rulers
- Pupilometers
- Retinal cameras
- Rimless assembly measuring tools
- Rimless scribe tools
- Riveting hammers
- Sagitta gauges
- Screw extracting pliers
- Screw grippers
- Self-closing tweezers
- Side cutting pliers
- Snipe nose pliers
- Soldering clamps
- Soldering irons
- Soldering torches
- Spectrophotometers
- Specular microscopes
- Stereopsis testers
- Tapered eyewire closure pliers
- Trial lens sets
- Ultrasonic cleaners
- Visual field testers
- Wheel cutters
- Zylonite files
Technology Skills required for Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician
- Electronic medical record EMR software
- Eyeglass design software
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Word
- SAP software