How To Become An Instrumentation Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is an instrumentation engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Angela Rasmussen

Instrumentation engineering focuses on control processes that use sensors as inputs. This field of engineering can be concerned with equipment processes using sensors to observe many types of variables, including vibration, pH, voltage, temperature, and much more. Instrumentation engineers are responsible for some aspects of the life of the control mechanism.

Instrumentation engineers are in charge of preparing, designing, implementing, and introducing a new mechanism. They also oversee, administer and handle the departments responsible for the control systems that are currently in operation. However, the basic tasks of any given instrumentation engineering work would depend on the control systems involved and the final output.

Individuals seeking to become instrumentation engineers usually have a bachelor's degree in technical fields such as electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer engineering, or related disciplines. It can rarely be possible to step into this position without considerable experience in junior or technical positions with the instrumentation team.

What general advice would you give to an instrumentation engineer?

Dr. Angela Rasmussen

Professor (Lecturer) Director of Mentoring and Advising Director of Electrical Engineering Senior Projects, University of Utah

Take heart that while Electrical Engineering jobs have been impacted by COVID19, it's impact is minimal in comparison to most other areas. While many areas have been hit hard by layoffs, Electrical Engineering has only slightly been affected in comparison. Many companies have declared hiring freezes and many others are still hiring. Therefore, don't get discouraged. There are Electrical Engineerings jobs needing to be filled! Make sure to be professional in all your interactions and work on improving your online presence.

ScoreInstrumentation EngineerUS Average

Salary

6.9

Avg. Salary $88,783

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.18%

Asian 15.52%

Black or African American 4.92%

Hispanic or Latino 11.50%

Unknown 4.72%

White 63.16%

Gender

female 8.80%

male 91.20%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an instrumentation engineer

Explore instrumentation engineer education requirements

Most common instrumentation engineer degrees

Bachelor's

78.5 %

Master's

9.1 %

Associate

6.9 %

Start to develop specific instrumentation engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
PLC	8.14%
Autocad	5.81%
Analyzers	4.60%
Troubleshoot	4.49%
Instrumentation Systems	4.45%

Complete relevant instrumentation engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New instrumentation engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an instrumentation engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real instrumentation engineer resumes.

Research instrumentation engineer duties and responsibilities

Coordinate with senior electrical engineers and achieve hands-on experience on coal fire plant power generation and power transformers, circuit breakers.
Develop control systems using advance controllers like PLC and DCS to improve efficiency of the system, productivity and optimize operations.
Perform troubleshooting on HMI's.
Complete monthly safety training and adhere to all OSHA mandate regulations.

Prepare your instrumentation engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your instrumentation engineer resume.

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