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The differences between instrumentation & control engineers and system design 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 instrumentation & control engineer and a system design engineer. Additionally, a system design engineer has an average salary of $107,704, which is higher than the $92,464 average annual salary of an instrumentation & control engineer.
The top three skills for an instrumentation & control engineer include PLC, HMI and SCADA. The most important skills for a system design engineer are system design, architecture, and MATLAB.
| Instrumentation & Control Engineer | System Design Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $92,464 | $107,704 |
| Hourly rate | $44.45 | $51.78 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 51,065 | 113,582 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
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.
A system design engineer is an individual who participates in system design engineering and resolves manufacturing and service problems. System design engineers are required to collaborate with the system design team to research emerging technologies and develop new capabilities. They create design layouts by utilizing the use of CAD software such as AutoCad as well as supervise a group of CAD technicians. System design engineers must also provide customer service in the field and deliver individualized problem solving and system design support
Instrumentation & control engineers and system design engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Instrumentation & Control Engineer | System Design Engineer | |
| Average salary | $92,464 | $107,704 |
| Salary range | Between $70,000 And $121,000 | Between $77,000 And $149,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | Marathon Petroleum | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Automotive |
There are a few differences between an instrumentation & control engineer and a system design engineer in terms of educational background:
| Instrumentation & Control Engineer | System Design Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between instrumentation & control engineers' and system design engineers' demographics:
| Instrumentation & Control Engineer | System Design Engineer | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.2% Female, 9.8% | Male, 91.2% Female, 8.8% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.4% Asian, 15.4% White, 63.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |