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The differences between advanced manufacturing engineers and design engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an advanced manufacturing engineer, becoming a design engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, an advanced manufacturing engineer has an average salary of $90,343, which is higher than the $77,134 average annual salary of a design engineer.
The top three skills for an advanced manufacturing engineer include lean manufacturing, project management and sigma. The most important skills for a design engineer are C++, UL, and project management.
| Advanced Manufacturing Engineer | Design Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $90,343 | $77,134 |
| Hourly rate | $43.43 | $37.08 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 75,116 | 138,173 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 43 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 6 |
An advanced manufacturing engineer specializes in designing and developing equipment and machinery to optimize an organization's manufacturing operations. Among their responsibilities include performing research and analysis to identify the manufacturing facility's needs, creating prototypes and test structures, liaising with vendors and suppliers to purchase materials, managing budgets and timelines, assessing existing systems and methods to find areas needing improvement, and implementing solutions against problem areas. Furthermore, as an engineer, it is essential to conduct maintenance checks on systems and equipment to ensure quality standards and compliance with state laws and regulations.
A design engineer is responsible for creating systems and applications based on their expertise. Design engineers work through client specifications based on business needs. A design engineer also provides recommendations on improving existing systems to boost its performance and increase efficiency. Design engineers must have an excellent command of computer systems, programming codes, and technical data to ensure the system's stability and high-quality processes. A design engineer should also have strong analytical and time-management skills to perform tasks and meet deadlines.
Advanced manufacturing engineers and design engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Advanced Manufacturing Engineer | Design Engineer | |
| Average salary | $90,343 | $77,134 |
| Salary range | Between $67,000 And $121,000 | Between $57,000 And $102,000 |
| Highest paying City | Santa Rosa, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Technology |
There are a few differences between an advanced manufacturing engineer and a design engineer in terms of educational background:
| Advanced Manufacturing Engineer | Design Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between advanced manufacturing engineers' and design engineers' demographics:
| Advanced Manufacturing Engineer | Design Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 93.1% Female, 6.9% | Male, 88.9% Female, 11.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% Asian, 17.2% White, 63.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 16.8% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |