As an engineering scientist, you will be responsible for researching, developing, and designing new materials, devices, sensors, and processes for a diverse range of applications. You will also be involved in providing creative and practical solutions to any technical issues in the required industry. Engineering scientists work in diverse industrial fields such as biotechnology, chemistry, construction, environmental science, manufacturing, etc.
An engineering scientist's responsibilities include actively participating in designing and developing computer-based models and performing research experiments. You might also have to supervise project execution, analyze collected data from various resources, and coordinate with clients. Some other roles you'll take on will include providing proper training to juniors, planning the working of research projects, and developing test plans for the research and development department.
The basic educational requirement is a bachelor's degree in engineering, physics, chemistry, or a related field, though a master's degree is preferred. Additional knowledge of software packages like MatLab, ArcGIS, AutoCAD is also recommended. The average hourly salary for working in this capacity is $39.50, which amounts to $82,155 annually. The career is projected to grow in the near future, resulting in various job opportunities across the United States.
Engineering Scientist Overview
Engineering Scientist Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an engineering scientist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $40.71 an hour? That's $84,684 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 1,100 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does an Engineering Scientist Do
There are certain skills that many engineering scientists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed business skills, problem-solving skills and analytical skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be an engineering scientist, we found that a lot of resumes listed 14.4% of engineering scientists included clearance, while 8.4% of resumes included c++, and 8.4% of resumes included python. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the engineering scientist job title. But what industry to start with? Most engineering scientists actually find jobs in the technology and manufacturing industries.
How To Become an Engineering Scientist
If you're interested in becoming an engineering scientist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 46.0% of engineering scientists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 36.3% of engineering scientists have master's degrees. Even though most engineering scientists have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become an engineering scientist. When we researched the most common majors for an engineering scientist, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on engineering scientist resumes include doctoral degree degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become an engineering scientist. In fact, many engineering scientist jobs require experience in a role such as research assistant. Meanwhile, many engineering scientists also have previous career experience in roles such as engineer or internship.
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Engineering Scientist Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, an engineering scientist can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as senior engineer, progress to a title such as engineering manager and then eventually end up with the title senior engineering manager.
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Average Salary for an Engineering Scientist
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
CTG Engineer Scientist I/QC Engineer Scientist I/QC | CTG CTG | 07/15/2020 07/15/2020 | $101,76207/15/2020 $101,762 |
National Transportation Safety Board Supervisory Engineer/Scientist, or Manager Supervisory Engineer/Scientist, or Manager | National Transportation Safety Board National Transportation Safety Board | 06/29/2020 06/29/2020 | $101,58506/29/2020 $101,585 |
Indian Health Service Engineer/Scientist Engineer/Scientist | Indian Health Service Indian Health Service | 06/28/2020 06/28/2020 | $53,90106/28/2020 $53,901 |
University of Texas at Austin Engineering Scientist Associate Engineering Scientist Associate | University of Texas at Austin University of Texas at Austin | 04/22/2020 04/22/2020 | $55,00004/22/2020 $55,000 |
Cybercoders Scientist-Antibody Engineering Scientist-Antibody Engineering | Cybercoders Cybercoders | 04/16/2020 04/16/2020 | $120,00004/16/2020 $120,000 |
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Top Colleges for Engineering Scientists
1. Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA • Public
2. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA • Private
4. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
5. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
6. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Public
7. Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA • Public
8. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Public
9. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Public
10. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
Top Skills For an Engineering Scientist
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 14.4% of engineering scientists listed clearance on their resume, but soft skills such as business skills and problem-solving skills are important as well.
- Clearance, 14.4%
- C++, 8.4%
- Python, 8.4%
- Data Analysis, 6.9%
- R, 4.9%
- Other Skills, 57.0% See All Engineering Scientist Skills
Best States For an Engineering Scientist
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an engineering scientist. The best states for people in this position are Massachusetts, Washington, Minnesota, and California. Engineering scientists make the most in Massachusetts with an average salary of $95,820. Whereas in Washington and Minnesota, they would average $95,817 and $95,189, respectively. While engineering scientists would only make an average of $94,586 in California, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Washington
$95,817
Avg. Salary
2. Minnesota
$95,189
Avg. Salary
3. Massachusetts
$95,820
Avg. Salary
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