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The differences between senior design projects and mechanical design 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 a mechanical design engineer. Additionally, a senior design project has an average salary of $92,208, which is higher than the $75,821 average annual salary of a mechanical design engineer.
The top three skills for a senior design project include solidworks, medical devices and prototype. The most important skills for a mechanical design engineer are CAD, mechanical design, and GD.
| Senior Design Project | Mechanical Design Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $92,208 | $75,821 |
| Hourly rate | $44.33 | $36.45 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 70,865 | 120,258 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 86% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| 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.
A mechanical design engineer specializes in designing various mechanical devices that will be vital in developing machinery or large structures. One of their primary responsibilities revolves around conducting thorough research and analysis, establishing layouts and prototypes, producing progress reports, and working alongside fellow engineers and skilled professionals. Typically assigned in an office setting, a mechanical design engineer must visit construction sites or factories to test and observe equipment qualities. Furthermore, during production, there are instances when a mechanical engineer must coordinate with suppliers, contractors, and clients.
Senior design projects and mechanical design engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Design Project | Mechanical Design Engineer | |
| Average salary | $92,208 | $75,821 |
| Salary range | Between $70,000 And $120,000 | Between $59,000 And $96,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | HDR | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a senior design project and a mechanical design engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Design Project | Mechanical Design Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 86% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| 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 mechanical design engineers' demographics:
| Senior Design Project | Mechanical Design Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 80.3% Female, 19.7% | Male, 91.9% Female, 8.1% |
| 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, 3.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 16.4% White, 67.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |