Mechanical design technician vs computer aided design designer

The differences between mechanical design technicians and computer aided design designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a mechanical design technician, becoming a computer aided design designer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a mechanical design technician has an average salary of $60,714, which is higher than the $60,150 average annual salary of a computer aided design designer.

The top three skills for a mechanical design technician include CAD, revit and fire protection. The most important skills for a computer aided design designer are auto cad, revit, and aided design.

Mechanical design technician vs computer aided design designer overview

	Mechanical Design Technician	Computer Aided Design Designer
Yearly salary	$60,714	$60,150
Hourly rate	$29.19	$28.92
Growth rate	2%	-3%
Number of jobs	62,685	92,503
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 59%	Associate Degree, 45%
Average age	41	45
Years of experience	6	4

Mechanical design technician vs computer aided design designer salary

Mechanical design technicians and computer aided design designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Mechanical Design Technician	Computer Aided Design Designer
Average salary	$60,714	$60,150
Salary range	Between $47,000 And $77,000	Between $40,000 And $89,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	Meta
Best paying industry	-	Automotive

Differences between mechanical design technician and computer aided design designer education

There are a few differences between a mechanical design technician and a computer aided design designer in terms of educational background:

	Mechanical Design Technician	Computer Aided Design Designer
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 59%	Associate Degree, 45%
Most common major	Drafting And Design	Drafting And Design
Most common college	Northwestern University	LeTourneau University

Mechanical design technician vs computer aided design designer demographics

Here are the differences between mechanical design technicians' and computer aided design designers' demographics:

	Mechanical Design Technician	Computer Aided Design Designer
Average age	41	45
Gender ratio	Male, 89.3% Female, 10.7%	Male, 79.6% Female, 20.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.2% Asian, 10.4% White, 72.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.1% Asian, 5.7% White, 73.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	5%	6%

Differences between mechanical design technician and computer aided design designer duties and responsibilities

Mechanical design technician example responsibilities.

Provide mechanical design and sustaining engineering expertise to troubleshoot manufacturing defect trends and achieve a more robust and producible product.
Design and model changes to drawings for support of fabrication and installation of HVAC, plumbing and major commercial/industrial/residential pipe systems.
Engineer air-conditioning, heating, refrigeration, plumbing, and electrical power supply for renovate building spaces.
Convert and clean-up architectural background drawings and establish mechanical and plumbing drawings.
Create BOM for the lines; compose design documentation utilizing technical drawings and engineering specifications.
Design and manufacture documentation for custom smart power distribution products including customer specifications and vendor BOM's.

Computer aided design designer example responsibilities.

Manage the ECN process by assigning the highest priority requests through coordination between engineering staff and drafting personnel.
Manage and supervise other draftsmen.
Develop a product design to solve the problem of height adjustment of a chair using PTC CreO Direct/Elements & parametric.
Used primiarly pro-e with some autocad.
Work with both Intralink and Windchill.
Create blueprints/drawings of unique grille designs for glass windows using computer program

Mechanical design technician vs computer aided design designer skills

Common mechanical design technician skills

CAD, 17%
Revit, 10%
Fire Protection, 9%
Solidworks, 8%
Assembly Drawings, 6%
BIM, 6%

Common computer aided design designer skills

Auto CAD, 8%
Revit, 8%
Aided Design, 7%
Construction Drawings, 4%
Engineering Drawings, 4%
Design Drawings, 4%

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Mechanical Design Technician
Mechanical Design Technician vs Computer Aided Design Designer

Updated January 8, 2025

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