Laboratory engineer vs research laboratory technician

The differences between laboratory engineers and research laboratory technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a laboratory engineer, becoming a research laboratory technician takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a laboratory engineer has an average salary of $92,242, which is higher than the $38,308 average annual salary of a research laboratory technician.

The top three skills for a laboratory engineer include C++, lab environment and UL. The most important skills for a research laboratory technician are patients, chemistry, and laboratory equipment.

Laboratory engineer vs research laboratory technician overview

	Laboratory Engineer	Research Laboratory Technician
Yearly salary	$92,242	$38,308
Hourly rate	$44.35	$18.42
Growth rate	2%	9%
Number of jobs	121,212	86,476
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 68%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age	41	40
Years of experience	6	4

What does a laboratory engineer do?

A laboratory engineer specializes in designing and developing tools and machinery for laboratory operations, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities include installing and maintaining equipment, performing extensive research and analysis, coordinating with other experts, and identifying areas needing improvement, implementing solutions as required. They must also conduct regular maintenance checks on systems, performing corrective measures promptly and efficiently. Furthermore, as a laboratory engineer, it is essential to provide technical support while implementing the facility's policies and regulations.

What does a research laboratory technician do?

Research laboratory technicians play a vital role in scientific laboratories. They perform varied duties and responsibilities, which include setting up, operating, and maintaining the laboratory equipment, assisting in laboratory-based research activities such as sampling, testing, and analyzing results, and providing technical support to the laboratory team members. In addition, they are expected to support the development and advancement of science and modern medicine. Other typical duties of research laboratory technicians include preparing samples and specimens, keeping abreast with current technical developments, and ensuring strict compliance with safety procedures.

Laboratory engineer vs research laboratory technician salary

Laboratory engineers and research laboratory technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Laboratory Engineer	Research Laboratory Technician
Average salary	$92,242	$38,308
Salary range	Between $62,000 And $135,000	Between $30,000 And $48,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Chicago, IL
Highest paying state	California	Illinois
Best paying company	Meta	Accenture
Best paying industry	Technology	Manufacturing

Differences between laboratory engineer and research laboratory technician education

There are a few differences between a laboratory engineer and a research laboratory technician in terms of educational background:

	Laboratory Engineer	Research Laboratory Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 68%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Biology
Most common college	Michigan Technological University	Cornell University

Laboratory engineer vs research laboratory technician demographics

Here are the differences between laboratory engineers' and research laboratory technicians' demographics:

	Laboratory Engineer	Research Laboratory Technician
Average age	41	40
Gender ratio	Male, 86.3% Female, 13.7%	Male, 49.0% Female, 51.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 14.6% White, 68.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 12.3% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.5% Asian, 15.7% White, 49.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.5%
LGBT Percentage	5%	6%

Differences between laboratory engineer and research laboratory technician duties and responsibilities

Laboratory engineer example responsibilities.

Manage test servers and clients running Solaris, Linux, XP, and BSD.
Manage test lab HVAC, and electrical load levels to protect and preserve assets.
Manage HVAC test construction in accordance with ASHRAE standards and maintain lab- testing schedule.
Manage multiple mobile telemetry stations consisting of RF receiving equipment, data processing front end, and display software.
Manage Jenkins security by providing specific access to authorize developers/testers using project base matrix authorization strategy.
Collaborate with engineers to create SAN environment for test cases including servers, storage and network switches.

Research laboratory technician example responsibilities.

Manage RT-PCR screening of candidate genes.
Manage the development of innovative visualization and concept mapping of contest environment analysis challenges and analyst skill sets.
Use many scientific techniques to collect and analyze RNA, DNA, and specific proteins from lines of potato plants.
Preform computational molecular simulation of DNA and RNA.
Retain patients from previous research projects and update database using patient histories and correlating pertinent medical data.
Work with non human primates in an HIV testing laboratory.

Laboratory engineer vs research laboratory technician skills

Common laboratory engineer skills

C++, 5%
Lab Environment, 4%
UL, 4%
Test Equipment, 4%
Lab Equipment, 4%
Data Analysis, 4%

Common research laboratory technician skills

Patients, 9%
Chemistry, 7%
Laboratory Equipment, 7%
Cell Culture, 5%
Research Data, 4%
Research Projects, 4%

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Laboratory Engineer vs Research Laboratory Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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