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Aircraft design engineer vs structural design engineer

The differences between aircraft design engineers and structural design engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become an aircraft design engineer, becoming a structural design engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, an aircraft design engineer has an average salary of $102,461, which is higher than the $75,662 average annual salary of a structural design engineer.

The top three skills for an aircraft design engineer include CATIA, CAD and GD. The most important skills for a structural design engineer are structural design, CAD, and autocad.

Aircraft design engineer vs structural design engineer overview

Aircraft Design EngineerStructural Design Engineer
Yearly salary$102,461$75,662
Hourly rate$49.26$36.38
Growth rate6%7%
Number of jobs44,26957,187
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 81%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age4441
Years of experience46

Aircraft design engineer vs structural design engineer salary

Aircraft design engineers and structural design engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Aircraft Design EngineerStructural Design Engineer
Average salary$102,461$75,662
Salary rangeBetween $76,000 And $136,000Between $54,000 And $104,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-California
Best paying company-Google
Best paying industry-Manufacturing

Differences between aircraft design engineer and structural design engineer education

There are a few differences between an aircraft design engineer and a structural design engineer in terms of educational background:

Aircraft Design EngineerStructural Design Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 81%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common majorMechanical EngineeringCivil Engineering
Most common collegeGeorgia Institute of TechnologyCarnegie Mellon University

Aircraft design engineer vs structural design engineer demographics

Here are the differences between aircraft design engineers' and structural design engineers' demographics:

Aircraft Design EngineerStructural Design Engineer
Average age4441
Gender ratioMale, 87.5% Female, 12.5%Male, 88.9% Female, 11.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 11.1% White, 68.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 10.3% Asian, 17.3% White, 64.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage8%5%

Differences between aircraft design engineer and structural design engineer duties and responsibilities

Aircraft design engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage the development of the next generation products base on existing refrigerants and CO2 system including prototyping and initial manufacturing run.
  • Formulate conceptual design of aeronautical, aerospace products or systems to meet customer requirements and communicate feed back to design engineers.
  • Develop and maintain work plans and BOM that support goals for cost, quality and delivery of prototype engine builds.
  • Originate drawing and model product definition, BOMs, and product life cycle management (PLM) data.
  • Design fuselage composite core details utilizing FIBERSIM.

Structural design engineer example responsibilities.

  • Lead a team on a year-long retrofit design effort for the F/A-18 E/F wing.
  • Review of design standards and procedures to conform to current IBC, ASCE, AWWA and ACI codes.
  • Perform stress analysis by hand and using FEA.
  • Load rating analysis and calculation methods base on AASHTO LRFR specifications.
  • Design steel pipe supports & frames for liquid natural plants using ASCE & AISC.
  • Perform seismic and wind load calculations in compliance with the ASCE 7-05, IBC and Ohio building codes.
  • Show more

Aircraft design engineer vs structural design engineer skills

Common aircraft design engineer skills
  • CATIA, 18%
  • CAD, 17%
  • GD, 8%
  • Structural Design, 8%
  • Design Reviews, 8%
  • Aircraft Design, 7%
Common structural design engineer skills
  • Structural Design, 15%
  • CAD, 10%
  • Autocad, 7%
  • Aerospace, 6%
  • GD, 5%
  • Aided Design, 5%

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