He worked as a research associate at Marshall Space Flight Center, in the U.S. from 1970 to 1972 where he designed analog integrated circuits in CMOS technology.

In 1975, the Austrian Research Council supported Hochmair's cochlear implant project by a grant of 110,000 ATS, roughly equivalent to $11,000 USD.

Together with his wife Ingeborg Hochmair, who holds several degrees in electrical engineering, he designed a device that was able to stimulate the fibers of the auditory nerve at several locations within the cochlea.

A previous implant design by William F. House could only stimulate cochlea at one site.

[6] In 2013, Ingeborg Hochmair won the coveted Lasker Award, often considered the "American Nobel Prize," for this development.

[7] 1977: Best Paper Award, International Solid-State Circuits Conference 2003: Erwin Schrödinger Prize, Austrian Academy of Sciences[8] 2004: Honorary Doctorate of Medicine, Technical University of Munich[9] 2004: Holzer Prize, Technical University of Vienna[10] 2014: Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class[11] 2014: Russ Prize, National Academy of Engineering[11] 2014: Finalist for the European Inventor Award[12] 2015: Johann Joseph Ritter von Prechtl Medal, Technical University of Vienna[11] 2016: Eduard Rhein Prize, Eduard Rhein Foundation[11] Hochmair is the author or co-author on more than 50 publications in the field of electrical engineering and cochlear implant technology.

(1999) Magnetic resonance imaging and cochlear implants: Compatibility and safety aspects.

[16] Hochmair, E. S. (1984) System optimization for improved accuracy in transcutaneous signal and power transmission.