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The differences between senior design projects and mechanical 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 engineer. Additionally, a senior design project has an average salary of $92,208, which is higher than the $75,352 average annual salary of a mechanical engineer.
The top three skills for a senior design project include solidworks, medical devices and prototype. The most important skills for a mechanical engineer are CAD, solidworks, and mechanical systems.
| Senior Design Project | Mechanical Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $92,208 | $75,352 |
| Hourly rate | $44.33 | $36.23 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 70,865 | 105,618 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 86% | Bachelor's Degree, 77% |
| 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.
Mechanical Engineers oversee the development of various mechanical devices in different industries. Most of the responsibilities will revolve around crafting, improving, or designing technologies by utilizing extensive expertise in the subject; they identify and detect errors, provide in-depth analysis, and resolve issues. They are often in designated offices, but they can also work on-site and travel if necessary. Furthermore, Mechanical Engineers usually function in a group or team setting, often supervised by personnel in higher positions.
Senior design projects and mechanical engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Design Project | Mechanical Engineer | |
| Average salary | $92,208 | $75,352 |
| Salary range | Between $70,000 And $120,000 | Between $58,000 And $97,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Washington |
| Best paying company | HDR | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Energy |
There are a few differences between a senior design project and a mechanical engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Design Project | Mechanical Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 86% | Bachelor's Degree, 77% |
| 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 engineers' demographics:
| Senior Design Project | Mechanical Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 80.3% Female, 19.7% | Male, 90.6% Female, 9.4% |
| 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, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.6% White, 68.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |