Lenses and Cameras are assembled by technicians. They certainly do not need a college graduate putting the tiny pieces and parts together. What is needed is tiny hands, slim fingers, good eyes and a willingness to work for low wages.
Designing cameras will take engineers from several discliplines, mostly mechanical, but still a lot of different specialties. Designing lenses is done by PHD's with optics specialties, computer programmers to write sophisticated ray tracing routines to find new lens formulas, and mechanical and electrical engineers to do the hardware part.
Grinding lenses is a job where you start young doing the helper work and over the years are allowed to do more and more of the high end grinding. Those who make the top grade lenses are those who have developed a "feel" for the almost impossible tolerances that can only be measured indirectly by interferometry.
If you want to be one who assembles things, a trade school is a good start.
If you want to create lenses, join a local astronomy group and learn to design and build your own telescope, and take a course in college physics. You will want to find a school that is pre-emminant in optical physics, and get accepted into their program.
As is usual, the technology will change before you graduate, so its a lifetime learning process.
Good Luck.
