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The differences between electrical research engineers and instrumentation & control engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an electrical research engineer and an instrumentation & control engineer. Additionally, an instrumentation & control engineer has an average salary of $92,464, which is higher than the $85,767 average annual salary of an electrical research engineer.
The top three skills for an electrical research engineer include C++, electrical systems and MATLAB. The most important skills for an instrumentation & control engineer are PLC, HMI, and SCADA.
| Electrical Research Engineer | Instrumentation & Control Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $85,767 | $92,464 |
| Hourly rate | $41.23 | $44.45 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 76,225 | 51,065 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 78% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
The electrical research engineers are responsible for conducting research, designing and developing new and innovative electrical products or systems, and evaluate them to improve existing technical processes. They have strong analytical and critical thinking skills and professional competency to perform intensive research and collaborate on standards for procedures, and design testing methods to identify problems and solutions. Being an electrical research engineer is essential to a company since the job involves innovation and development processes.
An instrumentation and control engineer is responsible for installing and designing technical components for engineering systems that would support production and manufacturing processes. Instrumentation and control engineers inspect control systems, modify features and infrastructure, configure controllers, and run multiple quality checks to ensure stability and optimal performance. They must have excellent communication and technical skills, especially in developing system codes and analyzing programming languages to serve control functions and development. An instrumentation and control engineer also resolves system issues and write resolution reports for reference.
Electrical research engineers and instrumentation & control engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Electrical Research Engineer | Instrumentation & Control Engineer | |
| Average salary | $85,767 | $92,464 |
| Salary range | Between $65,000 And $112,000 | Between $70,000 And $121,000 |
| Highest paying City | Redmond, WA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Washington |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Marathon Petroleum |
| Best paying industry | Utilities | Energy |
There are a few differences between an electrical research engineer and an instrumentation & control engineer in terms of educational background:
| Electrical Research Engineer | Instrumentation & Control Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 78% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between electrical research engineers' and instrumentation & control engineers' demographics:
| Electrical Research Engineer | Instrumentation & Control Engineer | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 88.8% Female, 11.2% | Male, 90.2% Female, 9.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 21.4% White, 58.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.0% Asian, 14.5% White, 64.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |