Mud engineer vs research engineer

The differences between mud engineers and research engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-8 years to become a mud engineer, becoming a research engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a research engineer has an average salary of $96,945, which is higher than the $66,175 average annual salary of a mud engineer.

The top three skills for a mud engineer include rig, drilling fluid and polymer. The most important skills for a research engineer are python, java, and software development.

Mud engineer vs research engineer overview

	Mud Engineer	Research Engineer
Yearly salary	$66,175	$96,945
Hourly rate	$31.81	$46.61
Growth rate	8%	2%
Number of jobs	26,045	136,763
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Average age	43	41
Years of experience	8	6

Mud engineer vs research engineer salary

Mud engineers and research engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Mud Engineer	Research Engineer
Average salary	$66,175	$96,945
Salary range	Between $45,000 And $96,000	Between $67,000 And $138,000
Highest paying City	-	Menlo Park, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	The Citadel
Best paying industry	-	Start-up

Differences between mud engineer and research engineer education

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

	Mud Engineer	Research Engineer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Most common major	Business	Mechanical Engineering
Most common college	Stanford University	Georgia Institute of Technology

Mud engineer vs research engineer demographics

Here are the differences between mud engineers' and research engineers' demographics:

	Mud Engineer	Research Engineer
Average age	43	41
Gender ratio	Male, 93.9% Female, 6.1%	Male, 81.7% Female, 18.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 17.0% White, 62.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.9% White, 67.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between mud engineer and research engineer duties and responsibilities

Mud engineer example responsibilities.

Work directly with the well supervisor and team to accomplish the job responsibilities and troubleshoot issues.
Manage rig move/loss circulation surface personnel logistics for maximum efficiency.
Hold current``HUET"TWIC and H2S certificates.
Waste management, H2S content fluid treatment.
Educate customers on how to properly administer product and troubleshoot some basic issues.
Prepare soil data in geotechnical software and graphical figures to be used and review by professional engineering project managers.

Research engineer example responsibilities.

Lead and organize the whole system debugging, test, and integration.
Prepare research proposals for the synthesis of small molecules to attain designate department goals.
Lead a team of software QA test engineers in the prioritization and assignment of tasks and the solving of technical problems.
Develop several LabVIEW applications used for data acquisition and logging.
Balance multiple embed system design and prototyping projects relate to jet engine diagnostics and prognostics.
Utilize high dexterity to assemble fuel cell hardware.

Mud engineer vs research engineer skills

Common mud engineer skills

Rig, 39%
Drilling Fluid, 10%
Polymer, 8%
OBM, 4%
Fluid Properties, 4%
Logistics, 4%

Common research engineer skills

Python, 18%
Java, 6%
Software Development, 5%
C, 4%
C++, 4%
Data Analysis, 4%