Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between senior design projects and engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a senior design project and an engineer. Additionally, a senior design project has an average salary of $92,208, which is higher than the $92,077 average annual salary of an engineer.
The top three skills for a senior design project include solidworks, medical devices and prototype. The most important skills for an engineer are python, cloud, and C++.
| Senior Design Project | Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $92,208 | $92,077 |
| Hourly rate | $44.33 | $44.27 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 70,865 | 618,207 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.33 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 86% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A senior design project worker is responsible for developing digital content designs and applications using various software tools, following clients' specifications and requests. Senior designers must be highly-organizational and communicative, especially on providing progress updates to the client and performing multiple design adjustments as needed. A senior designer should create and recommend designs based on the clients' budget goals without compromising the quality of the output. Senior design projects work closely with the design engineering team to maintain flawless layouts and achieve client satisfaction.
Engineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects. They should also be well-versed in different construction or industrial materials, and they ensure that appropriate materials are used for the project. They also ensure that the projects meet the requirements of the groups that hired them. They create spaces that would both address the needs of the end-users and the industry standards. They also ensure that the projects they make would stand the test of time.
Senior design projects and engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Design Project | Engineer | |
| Average salary | $92,208 | $92,077 |
| Salary range | Between $70,000 And $120,000 | Between $65,000 And $130,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Huntsville, AL |
| Highest paying state | Washington | New Hampshire |
| Best paying company | HDR | Fort Bend County |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a senior design project and an engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Design Project | Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 86% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Georgia Institute of Technology | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between senior design projects' and engineers' demographics:
| Senior Design Project | Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 80.3% Female, 19.7% | Male, 86.3% Female, 13.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 17.0% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 15.0% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |