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Technical design engineer vs student engineer

The differences between technical design engineers and student 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 technical design engineer and a student engineer. Additionally, a technical design engineer has an average salary of $75,599, which is higher than the $71,947 average annual salary of a student engineer.

The top three skills for a technical design engineer include design drawings, windows and infrastructure. The most important skills for a student engineer are GPA, C++, and CAD.

Technical design engineer vs student engineer overview

Technical Design EngineerStudent Engineer
Yearly salary$75,599$71,947
Hourly rate$36.35$34.59
Growth rate2%2%
Number of jobs173,54898,036
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 48%Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Average age4141
Years of experience66

What does a technical design engineer do?

A technical design engineer specializes in designing a company's products and systems, ensuring quality and efficiency. Among their responsibilities include performing extensive research and analysis, understanding and identifying the needs of every project, developing prototypes and test structures, and coordinating with experts. There are also instances when they must conduct maintenance checks on current systems, executing repairs when necessary. Furthermore, as a technical design engineer, it is essential to maintain an active communication line with staff, coordinating them while enforcing the company's policies and regulations.

What does a student engineer do?

A student engineer is an individual who trains to become a full pledge professional engineer by gaining working experience in the field of engineering. By using their knowledge in the principles of science and mathematics, student engineers should help other professionals develop economical solutions and solve technical problems. They are required to engage themselves in the testing, production, or maintenance of newly developed products. Student engineers are also required to work closely with their senior managers or supervisors.

Technical design engineer vs student engineer salary

Technical design engineers and student engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Technical Design EngineerStudent Engineer
Average salary$75,599$71,947
Salary rangeBetween $49,000 And $116,000Between $54,000 And $95,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CAYakima, WA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaWashington
Best paying companyWestern DigitalJPMorgan Chase & Co.
Best paying industryTechnologyTransportation

Differences between technical design engineer and student engineer education

There are a few differences between a technical design engineer and a student engineer in terms of educational background:

Technical Design EngineerStudent Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 48%Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Most common majorDrafting And DesignMechanical Engineering
Most common collegeCarnegie Mellon UniversityMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Technical design engineer vs student engineer demographics

Here are the differences between technical design engineers' and student engineers' demographics:

Technical Design EngineerStudent Engineer
Average age4141
Gender ratioMale, 83.7% Female, 16.3%Male, 78.8% Female, 21.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 10.3% White, 72.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.5% Asian, 15.9% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage5%5%

Differences between technical design engineer and student engineer duties and responsibilities

Technical design engineer example responsibilities.

  • Implement safety and quality standards to attain the ISO certification.
  • Used Solidworks to design test and production assembly fixtures.
  • Render images for the web site and trade show display in SolidWorks.
  • Work are performed to the ANSI Y14.5 geometric dimensioning and tolerance standard.
  • Serve as interface engineer between ComEd and A/E firms (Sargent & Lundy / Bechtel).
  • Experience in specification writing, installation scheduling, and produce drawings in architectural, HVAC and electrical disciplines.
  • Show more

Student engineer example responsibilities.

  • Compose GIS maps using ArcView, manage large data sets, and help in train other personnel learn program
  • Lead a team of undergraduate students to continue the work done on SEI NASA project (see below).
  • Manage Terraform and refactore from monolithic to application specific components.
  • Complete computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations and execute data analysis using JMP.
  • Aid software engineers in programming and debugging internal SQL database.
  • Perform systems programming in C/C++, Java, MATLAB and Linux.
  • Show more

Technical design engineer vs student engineer skills

Common technical design engineer skills
  • Design Drawings, 13%
  • Windows, 11%
  • Infrastructure, 8%
  • GIS, 5%
  • Control Systems, 4%
  • UL, 4%
Common student engineer skills
  • GPA, 12%
  • C++, 8%
  • CAD, 8%
  • Co-Op, 6%
  • Java, 5%
  • Python, 4%

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