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Instrumentation engineer vs facility engineer

The differences between instrumentation engineers and facility engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an instrumentation engineer, becoming a facility engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a facility engineer has an average salary of $89,623, which is higher than the $88,783 average annual salary of an instrumentation engineer.

The top three skills for an instrumentation engineer include PLC, autocad and analyzers. The most important skills for a facility engineer are HVAC, plumbing, and project management.

Instrumentation engineer vs facility engineer overview

Instrumentation EngineerFacility Engineer
Yearly salary$88,783$89,623
Hourly rate$42.68$43.09
Growth rate3%2%
Number of jobs45,73594,268
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 79%Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Average age4541
Years of experience26

What does an instrumentation engineer do?

An instrumentation engineer specializes in designing and developing equipment to optimize business processes. Their responsibilities revolve around performing research and analysis to identify the needs of a company, coordinating with different departments to gather data, devising strategies to create new processes, and preparing reports and presentations for the executives. An instrumentation engineer mostly performs installations and repairs; they also conduct regular maintenance to ensure the efficiency of facilities. Furthermore, they must answer inquiries and resolve issues and concerns, all in adherence to the company's policies and regulations.

What does a facility engineer do?

A facilities engineer specializes in managing and maintaining equipment and machinery in manufacturing plants or similar settings. Duties will revolve around conducting research and analysis through extensive data and blueprints, evaluating systems using various reports, handling issues, providing corrective measures, and performing regular inspections and maintenance. Furthermore, it is essential to implement all safety standards and regulations to ensure a safe and productive work environment for everyone.

Instrumentation engineer vs facility engineer salary

Instrumentation engineers and facility engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Instrumentation EngineerFacility Engineer
Average salary$88,783$89,623
Salary rangeBetween $65,000 And $119,000Between $63,000 And $125,000
Highest paying CityCupertino, CASouth San Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyAppleMeta
Best paying industryGovernmentEnergy

Differences between instrumentation engineer and facility engineer education

There are a few differences between an instrumentation engineer and a facility engineer in terms of educational background:

Instrumentation EngineerFacility Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 79%Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Most common majorElectrical EngineeringMechanical Engineering
Most common collegeMichigan Technological UniversityNorthwestern University

Instrumentation engineer vs facility engineer demographics

Here are the differences between instrumentation engineers' and facility engineers' demographics:

Instrumentation EngineerFacility Engineer
Average age4541
Gender ratioMale, 91.2% Female, 8.8%Male, 90.6% Female, 9.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.5% Asian, 15.5% White, 63.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 10.2% White, 71.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage6%5%

Differences between instrumentation engineer and facility engineer duties and responsibilities

Instrumentation engineer example 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.
  • Generate and update wiring on wiring module of SPI and prepares panel strip reports.
  • Determine and prepare all system configurations, selection of suitable devices and prepare I/O summary.
  • Show more

Facility engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage equipment procurement and project AFE's.
  • Define drawing system format and manage cad system.
  • Forecast and manage a $185MM+ annual budget through AFE proposal packages.
  • Manage A/E interface, design change orders and ensure proper field investigation, research and development.
  • Create and manage MOC's and PSSR's within the plant PSM areas for all new installations and process changes.
  • Manage and provide training to a multicultural maintenance team using TPM principles and following standards such as AIB and BRC.
  • Show more

Instrumentation engineer vs facility engineer skills

Common instrumentation engineer skills
  • PLC, 8%
  • Autocad, 6%
  • Analyzers, 5%
  • Troubleshoot, 4%
  • Instrumentation Systems, 4%
  • CAD, 4%
Common facility engineer skills
  • HVAC, 11%
  • Plumbing, 6%
  • Project Management, 6%
  • Ladders, 5%
  • Autocad, 5%
  • Boilers, 3%

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