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The differences between senior design projects and mechanical designers 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 designer. Additionally, a senior design project has an average salary of $92,208, which is higher than the $62,541 average annual salary of a mechanical designer.
The top three skills for a senior design project include solidworks, medical devices and prototype. The most important skills for a mechanical designer are mechanical design, revit, and auto cad.
| Senior Design Project | Mechanical Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $92,208 | $62,541 |
| Hourly rate | $44.33 | $30.07 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 70,865 | 65,748 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 86% | Associate Degree, 51% |
| 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 designer is responsible for designing mechanical equipment and devices, together with the engineers and other technology professionals. Mechanical designers create layouts following the clients' specifications, perform structural analysis, and analyze dimensions to ensure quality. They also inspect overall equipment performance and recommend adjustments as needed to improve its quality and boost optimization. Mechanical designers assist with installation and system upgrades, respond with the clients' inquiries and concerns, and escalate it to the appropriate personnel for resolution. A mechanical designer must have a strong knowledge of the mechanical and technology industry to build designs according to the highest standards.
Senior design projects and mechanical designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Design Project | Mechanical Designer | |
| Average salary | $92,208 | $62,541 |
| Salary range | Between $70,000 And $120,000 | Between $46,000 And $83,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | HDR | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Energy |
There are a few differences between a senior design project and a mechanical designer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Design Project | Mechanical Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 86% | Associate Degree, 51% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Drafting And Design |
| Most common college | Georgia Institute of Technology | Carnegie Mellon University |
Here are the differences between senior design projects' and mechanical designers' demographics:
| Senior Design Project | Mechanical Designer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 80.3% Female, 19.7% | Male, 89.1% Female, 10.9% |
| 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, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 10.5% White, 72.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |