How To Become A Machine Design Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a machine design engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Marco Schoen Ph.D.

Machine design engineers do exactly what their names imply that they do and a little bit more. They design and develop machines, engines, and tools intended for use across various industries. You must be able to develop prototypes based on project requirements, read blueprints, install, maintain and repair the different machines in a company. You might also be expected to upgrade machines by identifying the strength and weaknesses, troubleshooting, and providing technical support and solutions over potential issues. You would usually work in a team along with other designers and software developers to work on projects, meet project deadlines and attain all goals of the project.

The ability to use Solidworks and Autocad is essential for this role. Project management, creativity, and analytical skills are other essential skills to work in this position. The average yearly salary of a machine designer engineer is $71,000. The most commonly required educational qualification is a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or a related field.

What general advice would you give to a machine design engineer?

Marco Schoen Ph.D.

Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Director of the Measurement and Control Engineering Research Center (MCERC), Idaho State University

Stay current. Engineering evolves continuously; new tools, new technologies, and new areas where engineers can contribute, learn, and work. When graduating, students have the feeling they are set for their careers. However, this is not true; they might be set to start their careers. To be consistently successful in their pages, they need to stay informed and updated.

ScoreMachine Design EngineerUS Average

Salary

6.2

Avg. Salary $79,371

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.4

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.11%

Asian 10.26%

Black or African American 3.45%

Hispanic or Latino 9.54%

Unknown 4.61%

White 72.04%

Gender

female 3.61%

male 96.39%

Age - 39

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 - 39

Stress level

7.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.6

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.1

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a machine design engineer

Explore machine design engineer education requirements

Most common machine design engineer degrees

Bachelor's

61.6 %

Associate

22.7 %

Master's

12.4 %

Start to develop specific machine design engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Solidworks	21.44%
Project Management	7.80%
FEA	7.34%
Autocad	7.34%
GD	6.88%

Complete relevant machine design engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New machine design 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 a machine design engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real machine design engineer resumes.

Research machine design engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage automation projects including purchasing, scheduling fabrication and assembly, debugging, and delivery to customer.
Utilize SolidWorks to prototype assembly machines prior to building.
Learned to program and operate both CNC and manual machine tools.
Design of fixtures and automate machines in AutoCAD ($ 250K programs).

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