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Prototype technician vs technical testing engineer

The differences between prototype technicians and technical testing engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a prototype technician, becoming a technical testing engineer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a technical testing engineer has an average salary of $88,367, which is higher than the $45,071 average annual salary of a prototype technician.

The top three skills for a prototype technician include CAD, hand tools and CNC. The most important skills for a technical testing engineer are test results, schematics, and test procedures.

Prototype technician vs technical testing engineer overview

Prototype TechnicianTechnical Testing Engineer
Yearly salary$45,071$88,367
Hourly rate$21.67$42.48
Growth rate-10%
Number of jobs48,310100,815
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 38%Associate Degree, 47%
Average age5042
Years of experience124

Prototype technician vs technical testing engineer salary

Prototype technicians and technical testing engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Prototype TechnicianTechnical Testing Engineer
Average salary$45,071$88,367
Salary rangeBetween $34,000 And $58,000Between $62,000 And $125,000
Highest paying City-Issaquah, WA
Highest paying state-Washington
Best paying company-Western Digital
Best paying industry-Automotive

Differences between prototype technician and technical testing engineer education

There are a few differences between a prototype technician and a technical testing engineer in terms of educational background:

Prototype TechnicianTechnical Testing Engineer
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 38%Associate Degree, 47%
Most common majorAutomotive TechnologyElectrical Engineering
Most common collegePurdue UniversityNortheastern University

Prototype technician vs technical testing engineer demographics

Here are the differences between prototype technicians' and technical testing engineers' demographics:

Prototype TechnicianTechnical Testing Engineer
Average age5042
Gender ratioMale, 87.3% Female, 12.7%Male, 89.7% Female, 10.3%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% Asian, 8.0% White, 70.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 11.8% White, 67.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage8%4%

Differences between prototype technician and technical testing engineer duties and responsibilities

Prototype technician example responsibilities.

  • Manage and distribute cad standards to contributing design consultants and assist with any design issues as necessary.
  • Wire and solder all connections to FDA standards.
  • Finish SLA and SLS parts for mold development.
  • Experience in reading micrometers, calipers, and blueprints.
  • Assist purchasing department in outside vendor (PCB fabrication) operations
  • Use precision measuring tools including calipers, gages, and torques.
  • Show more

Technical testing engineer example responsibilities.

  • Design circuitry and write software to automate the testing of microwave data transmitters.
  • Lead project team to design and FDA validate 10-up extreme accuracy vial dosing system and CIP/SIP automate cleaning equipment.
  • Use of digital storage oscilloscopes to trace digital and analog signals during component level troubleshooting and system level integration and test.
  • Assist engineers with CE, and UL certifications.
  • Study and learn assembly, test and debug techniques.
  • Analyze software failures utilizing software base on Linux and Unix kernels.
  • Show more

Prototype technician vs technical testing engineer skills

Common prototype technician skills
  • CAD, 11%
  • Hand Tools, 10%
  • CNC, 7%
  • Prototyping, 6%
  • Calipers, 6%
  • Autoclaves, 6%
Common technical testing engineer skills
  • Test Results, 7%
  • Schematics, 7%
  • Test Procedures, 6%
  • Test Data, 4%
  • Test Fixtures, 4%
  • RF, 4%

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