What is a Mechanical Engineer?
Mechanical engineers are those who can work on designing and planning engines and other equipment for the company. You will be in charge of maintenance, installation, operation, and repair of equipment. You will get the customer design proposals and will investigate failures and diagnose faulty equipment and report to the maintenance team. You will also handle discussions and solve problems together with manufacturing departments, suppliers, and customers. This means you will work with personnel within and outside the engineering team. Similarly, you will make sure the products are more reliable and perform well in the specific operating environments.
There is a list of accredited engineering courses you must have taken for you to be eligible for the post. A Master's or doctorate degree will be a plus. You must be creative, have a great team spirit and be able to work under pressure. In addition, you need to have good interpersonal skills and verbal and written communication skills. You will earn an average of $72,056 a year.
What Does a Mechanical Engineer Do
Mechanical engineering is one of the broadest engineering disciplines. Mechanical engineers research, design, develop, build, and test mechanical and thermal sensors and devices, including tools, engines, and machines.
How To Become a Mechanical Engineer
Mechanical engineers typically need a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or mechanical engineering technology. Mechanical engineers who sell services publicly must be licensed in all states and the District of Columbia.
Mechanical Engineer Job Description
Mechanical Engineer Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a mechanical engineer can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as manufacturing engineer, progress to a title such as senior manufacturing engineer and then eventually end up with the title manufacturing engineering manager.
Average Salary for a Mechanical Engineer
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Mechanical Engineer
The role of a mechanical engineer includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general mechanical engineer responsibilities:
- Creating and maintaining site standards for cleanroom facilities systems that enable cutting edge design
- Apply technical knowledge to develop subsystems
- Participate in plant facility improvement projects, by being a member of kaizen team. Establish
There are several types of mechanical engineer, including:
Engineer
Role:
Engineers are creative thinkers and brilliant problem solvers. They excel at mathematical, scientific, and mechanical analysis. They follow plans and blueprints with a strong focus, yet remain flexible and work well under pressure.
Engineers develop systems for solving various problems as members of a team. They know that a single component is worthless without their counterparts, so they have to be great communicators, as well, to be successful at their job.
- Average Salary: $92,077
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Project Engineer
Role:
The project, as such, sounds vague because it depends on the industry they work for. In any case, they go on regular meetings with clients to make sure the the evolution of the work matches their vision. It is their responsibility to carry out the work within the budget or to propose adjustments to it if they see fit.
The project engineer will analyze the performance of their team and present progress reports to stakeholders to make sure everyone is at the top of their game.
- Average Salary: $75,050
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Design Engineer
Role:
A design engineer sounds fun, if you love research and innovation. I mean, who wouldn't want to see their discoveries and projects come alive, right? Recognition is another thing, but self-accomplishment matters the most. Apart from that, design engineers build their careers around traveling (no, not a vacation, though), interacting with people, and more... more technical duties. They are computer-savvy humans who would throw a fit over a system crash and computer virus (Like, who doesn't?). Their schedules are, well, usually messed-up. They work like regular employees during weekdays but could go over weekends and holidays as their job requires. So if you're planning to have a coffee date with a design engineer, just don't expect too much as they may meet a client in that coffee shop, too.
Generally, this job sounds fun, regardless of the pile of work and deadlines that have to be done. If you're someone who's always up for new things and discoveries, this might be the sign you're waiting for.
- Average Salary: $77,134
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
States With The Most Mechanical Engineer Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active mechanical engineer jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where mechanical engineers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Mechanical Engineer Jobs By State
Top Colleges for Mechanical Engineers
1. Michigan Technological University
Houghton, MI • Private
2. Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA • Private
3. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
4. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
5. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
6. Iowa State University of Science and Technology
Ames, IA • Private
7. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
8. Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
9. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Private
10. University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI • Private
Top Skills For a Mechanical Engineer
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 9.6% of mechanical engineers listed cad on their resume, but soft skills such as creativity and listening skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Mechanical Engineer Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Mechanical Engineer templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Mechanical Engineer resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Mechanical Engineer Demographics
Mechanical Engineer Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among mechanical engineers, 9.4% of them are women, while 90.6% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among mechanical engineers is White, which makes up 68.0% of all mechanical engineers.
- The most common foreign language among mechanical engineers is Spanish at 28.0%.
Online Courses For Mechanical Engineer That You May Like
This course applies principles learned in my course “Introduction to Engineering Mechanics” to analyze real world engineering structures. You will need to have mastered the engineering fundamentals from that class in order to be successful in this course offering. This course addresses the modeling and analysis of static equilibrium problems with an emphasis on real world engineering systems and problem solving. --------------------------- Recommended Background: You will need to have...
The foundation of engineering design is often coupled with validation. Simulation is a great tool that allows engineers to test, validate, and modify designs before they become a physical prototype. When used early in the process for simulation driven design and throughout the development process, simulation can help drive the design, make informed design decisions, speed up time to production, and most importantly, identify and eliminate costly design mistakes. Like any other tool though, it...
This course is an introduction to learning and applying the principles required to solve engineering mechanics problems. Concepts will be applied in this course from previous courses you have taken in basic math and physics. The course addresses the modeling and analysis of static equilibrium problems with an emphasis on real world engineering applications and problem solving. The copyright of all content and materials in this course are owned by either the Georgia Tech Research Corporation or...
Best States For a Mechanical Engineer
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a mechanical engineer. The best states for people in this position are Washington, Idaho, California, and Massachusetts. Mechanical engineers make the most in Washington with an average salary of $90,626. Whereas in Idaho and California, they would average $89,318 and $88,872, respectively. While mechanical engineers would only make an average of $86,527 in Massachusetts, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Washington
$90,626
Avg. Salary
2. Oregon
$84,644
Avg. Salary
3. Massachusetts
$86,527
Avg. Salary
How Do Mechanical Engineer Rate Their Jobs?
Top Mechanical Engineer Employers
Most Common Employers For Mechanical Engineer
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apple | $125,094 | $60.14 | 166 |
| 2 | Applied Materials | $109,725 | $52.75 | 377 |
| 3 | Lam Research | $102,846 | $49.45 | 118 |
| 4 | Caterpillar | $102,301 | $49.18 | 169 |
| 5 | General Motors | $99,381 | $47.78 | 159 |
| 6 | General Electric | $89,281 | $42.92 | 325 |
| 7 | Jacobs Engineering Group | $88,478 | $42.54 | 190 |
| 8 | Intel | $87,993 | $42.30 | 169 |
| 9 | Dell | $83,824 | $40.30 | 153 |
| 10 | Motorola Solutions | $79,353 | $38.15 | 244 |
Becoming a Mechanical Engineer FAQs
Mechanical Engineer Vs. Electrical Engineer
A mechanical engineer is someone who deals with the moving parts of a machine or system, while an electrical engineer is someone that is essential in the creation of equipment or machines that use or produce electricity.
How Long Does It Take To Become A Mechanical Engineer?
It takes 3 years of professional experience to become a mechanical engineer. That is the time it takes to learn specific mechanical engineer skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education. If you include the normal education requirements to complete a college degree, then it takes 6 to 8 years years to become a mechanical engineer.
Do Mechanical Engineers Make A Lot Of Money?
Yes, mechanical engineers make a lot of money. The national average for an engineer is around $85,000 which is 40% above the national average for salary. Entry-level jobs typically start between $65,000-$70,000. Top earners can make $110,000 as mechanical engineers.
Is It Hard To Become A Mechanical Engineer?
Yes, it is hard to become a mechanical engineer. This is because of the focus, time, and dedication required to earn the proper certifications.
While you are earning a degree in a university program that's accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), you will have to take courses in advanced mathematics, physical sciences, and engineering.
Is Mechanical Engineer A Good Career?
Yes, mechanical engineer is a good career. If you are curious, innovative, and enjoy learning about how things work then becoming a mechanical engineer will be a good fit for you.
Mechanical engineers rely on good math and science skills. As an engineer, you create and improve mechanical systems and apply practical solutions to complex problems. The projected job growth for mechanical engineers is 4% between 2018-2028.
Is Mechanical Engineering A Stressful Job?
Yes, mechanical engineering is a stressful job. This is because mechanical engineers are always busy designing, developing, and testing mechanical and thermal devices. According to the Bureau of Labor Studies, more than one-third of mechanical engineers work over 40 hours a week.
What Is A Typical Day For A Mechanical Engineer?
A typical day for a mechanical engineer consists of creating, analyzing, testing, and interpreting technical drawings and schematics.
Often mechanical engineers have meetings with fellow engineers to discuss problems and solutions to projects they are working on. In these meetings, they will go over the drawings or blueprints for specific projects or mechanisms, posture correction, and execution.
What Qualifications Do You Need To Become A Mechanical Engineer?
To qualify as a mechanical engineer you need a Bachelor's degree in Engineering from an accredited university as well as being able to pass a state licensing exam.
Other qualifications needed to become a mechanical engineer are having the appropriate skills.