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Project Engineer

Mr. Creer — Thu, 16 Jul 2020 04:55:53 +0000

Project Engineer

A Project engineer manages engineering and technical projects. These projects often have many different components to keep track of, such as:

Managing and communicating closely with the team(s)
Plan, monitor, and improve the different engineering processes involved to complete the project
Handle and optimize the company’s budget and schedule for different projects

The goal is to ensure you achieve a successful project outcome. Additionally, a “project” usually involves different team members, such as, designers, drafters, engineers from one or more engineering disciplines or departments, etc. ¹

What Do Project Engineers Do?

While the specific role of a project engineer varies depending on the industry and/or company, in general, they regulate processes, allocate responsibilities and ensure that projects run more efficiently and thus ensure the success of the company in the long run. ²

Some typical responsibilities include:

Preparing, scheduling, coordinating and monitoring all assigned projects
Communicating effectively with clients to interpret their requirements and needs
Maintaining quality control in all areas, including team collaboration, individual performance, scheduling, budgeting, etc.
Submitting reports on project status
Monitoring compliance in all aspects of the project
Collaborating with the project manager and other team members to provide help and technical support
Reviewing engineering deliverables (things that need to be deliver) and initiating appropriate corrective actions throughout the project lifecycle ³

What types of skills are necessary to be a successful Project Engineer?

The ideal skill set for someone moving into project engineering includes:

Organized – Must be able to prioritize workloads, problems and the needs of all members of their team
Problem Solving Skills – Must be able to find appropriate solutions for wide variety of (sometimes unexpected) problems as they arise
Attention to Detail – Must be able to focus on many tasks at once while still maintaining a close attention to the details of each
Business Acumen – more than many other engineering roles, a project engineer must have awareness of the business-side to deliver project outcomes on schedule and on budget, while still maintaining its safety
Communication Skills – Must outline project deliverables, understand problems and convey effective workarounds to members of the team to ensure the project continues as intended. Also likely to have direct communication with stakeholders (including suppliers, company management and other project staff) so have to manage everybody’s priorities/expectations
Decisiveness – Must be able to assess and understand the facts involved when making decisions (that ultimately are your own responsibility) ⁴

What are the challenges of being a Project Engineer?

Typically requires many years of experience
Work can be stressful because you are responsible for the outcome of a project and need to manage many different people/personalities in order to achieve your goal(s)
High-stakes environment, since a small mistake can ruin the entire outcome of the project
Hours are often long

What are the benefits of being a Project Engineer?

Broad specialization since can work in many engineering/project based disciplines
Well compensated
A lot of responsibility and thus freedom to take control of a project
Work with many different teams and get exposure to many different types of people

Typical Salary?

Project engineer salaries vary depending on several factors, such as their level of education and experience, where they work, seniority-level, size of the company, etc.

The average salary in the U.S is ~$78k per year⁵

Should I become a Project Engineer?

If you enjoy building and managing a project, and working with many different teams to complete an engineering project, then you should consider being a Project Engineer. A career as a project engineer allows you to take control of a project, gain management experience, work with many intelligent individuals, and help the company achieve it’s long term goals from a higher-level.

Relevant Forum Discussions

Want To Further Discuss Engineering?

Related Careers

Structural Engineer

Mechanical Engineer

Manufacturing Engineer

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Manufacturing Engineer

Mr. Creer — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 07:13:07 +0000

Manufacturing Engineer

In short, a Manufacturing Engineer is concerned with understanding, analyzing, and improving complex industrial, manufacturing, and infrastructure systems/processes. What does that mean?

Nearly everything you use in your daily life is man-made, or ‘manufactured’. Whether it be a car you drive or an article of clothing you wear, at its most basic level, Manufacturing Engineers take ideas from a concept to a working product.

Some common responsibilities of a Manufacturing Engineer are:

Design a product
Select the best technologies and processes for manufacturing it
Plan and design the factory that will produce the product, and
Oversee the running, management, maintenance, and improvement of the factory. ¹

What Do Manufacturing Engineers Do?

Manufacturing engineers evaluate the process of manufacturing in a company, identify potential improvements, and create and implement solutions. They can work in any industry that makes/manufactures products. Manufacturing engineer duties include:

Studying existing manufacturing processes and identifying strengths and weaknesses
Identifying potential improvements in product design and assembly line processes
Designing new systems for a product, including the design of entire factories
Creating protocols to improve optimization of the product line, in technical and budgetary aspects
Designing new products
Working with design teams to create prototypes
Working with financial and marketing teams to provide them with information that will affect pricing and advertising decisions
Assisting with inventory control
Managing the procurement process for raw materials²

Manufacturing Engineer Real Life Analogy:

A big part of manufacturing engineering is making processes more efficient. Below is an analogy to demonstrate what this means.

Let’s say you are participating in the process of setting up the dinner table. The current procedure goes as follows:

Go to the kitchen cabinets and take the plates
Then go to the dinner table and put the plates where they belong
Then go back to the same kitchen cabinets and get the utensils
Go back to the dinner table and put the utensils where they belong

In the above example, I notice this took two “passes” (aka trips) since I went from the kitchen cabinets to the dinner table, twice. As a dinner-table-manufacturing engineer, I want to make the process of making the dinner table more efficient. If instead I:

Go to the kitchen cabinets and take both the plates AND utensils
Then go to the dinner table and put the plates and utensils where they belong.

Now the dinner table has been set in half the time (only one pass)! The process is now more efficient and saves us time. Mission accomplished.

Manufacturing Engineer Project Examples:

Similarly, let’s look at a more realistic scenario for a manufacturing engineer. If I am manufacturing a portion of the body of a plane, part of this process includes drilling holes in the material so that the pieces of the plane can be put together.

A typical project might be: to reduce the number of passes it takes to complete an entire hole drilling process.

The current process takes three passes to drill all the holes on a certain piece of the plane.
I will carry out a series of tests to collect data and analysis to demonstrate that I can drill all the holes with a single pass, rather than three.

This effort results in time savings and work-efficiency improvements.

What is the difference between Manufacturing Engineers and Production Engineers?

Manufacturing Engineers focus more on the initial research design, layout, and build of the manufacturing process or system.

Whereas, Production Engineers are more focused on running these systems and would place more emphasis on:

Meeting production targets, inventory control, operations management, and continuous improvement -a bit more of a business-minded approach-
The elimination of waste – to make sure money and resources aren’t being wasted
Quality control and quality assurance – making sure the quality of a product meets expectations³

What types of Manufacturing Engineer Jobs are out there?

Where products are manufactured, there are manufacturing engineers. With that being said, there is always a lot of demand for those with this area of expertise. Some examples of similar job titles are:

Materials and Process Engineers
Design Engineers
Analysis Engineers (thermal, structural, mass properties)
Production technicians
Numerical control programmers
Tool Engineers
Industrial Engineers

What types of skills are necessary to be a successful Manufacturing Engineer?

Technical skills – Manufacturing engineers need a variety of technical skills, both general and industry-specific. Expertise with computer-simulated modeling programs, such as AutoCAD and SolidWorks, and with mathematical design programs, such as MATLAB, are helpful. Furthermore, they also need to operate and understand the mechanics of the equipment in the factories and plants they work for.
Lean manufacturing skills – Lean is a type of project management style that many manufacturers use. It involves the ability to reduce waste and increase efficiency.
Quality assurance skills – Manufacturing engineers must establish procedures that result in the highest quality products.
Analytical thinking – Good manufacturing engineers have a detail-oriented approach in identifying problems and implementing solutions.
Organized – Manufacturing engineers simultaneously oversee multiple aspects of a product or facility. Multi-tasking and being organized is essential.
Communication – Manufacturing engineers work with designers, accountants, vendors and plant operators, technicians, etc. in the process of creating a product. Clearly communicating their expectations with the team is essential.
Team players – Manufacturing engineers collaborate on teams to launch a product. They should be able to delegate, accept responsibilities and work well with others.
Financial acumen: As manufacturing engineers focus on making things efficient, they need to understand how they can save money by limiting costs/investing resources appropriately.
Creativity: A manufacturing engineer uses creative methods to design manufacturing systems/processes for the best possible result while maintaining all regulations and safety standards. ⁴

Typical Salary?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average manufacturing engineer makes around $87k. According to indeed, the average salary is around $77k.

Should I become a Manufacturing Engineer?

If you are interested in having a hands-on job, building products, and/or making processes more efficient, you should consider a career in manufacturing engineering. Furthermore, manufacturing engineering is a great way to be involved in the creation of exciting products at a slightly higher level (you are involved in many parts of the production process).

Some exciting clients that you can be a manufacturing engineer for include (but are not limited to): NASA, Department of Defense, Airlines, and Foreign Governments.

Relevant Forum Discussions

Want To Further Discuss Manufacturing Engineering?

Related Careers:

Software Engineering

Structural Engineer

Mechanical Engineer

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Structural Engineer

Mr. Creer — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 03:36:26 +0000

Structural Engineer

A Structural Engineer is responsible for making sure that the physical structures we use in our daily lives (like bridges and buildings) are safe, stable, and don’t collapse under any foreseeable conditions. Some examples of these foreseeable conditions that these engineers must account for include:

Gravity/weight of the structure itself
Number of vehicles/objects on a bridge
Storms/Weather
Extreme Environmental Events (like earthquakes, hurricanes, etc.)

These engineers use their technical and scientific knowledge to analyze, design, and facilitate the construction of various structures.¹

What Do Structural Engineers Do?

A great deal of what structural engineers do involves designing structures such as buildings, bridges, tunnels, etc. Most structural engineers work mainly as consultants to architects or design-build contractors. The architect or design-builder comes up with a building layout, and then it’s the structural engineer’s job to calculate the loads/potential forces (such as snow, wind, and earthquake forces), fit the structure to the architecture, and decide on what structural systems to use.²

What is a structural system?

Structural systems include steel, concrete, masonry, wood, and other materials from which the engineer selects beams, columns, and other members that support the building/keep it upright. If one considers the human body as analogous to a building, structural engineers would be the professionals that design the skeleton so that the body can support its weight and other forces that act on it.³

What do structural engineers do, other than designing and analyzing structures?

Although structural engineers usually design buildings, they are sometimes involved in the demolition or destruction of a structure, either permanently or to repair it. They also inspect structures both during and after construction to ensure that they are properly built.

Because the work of structural engineers is closely tied to public safety, they must be registered with the state in which they practice to demonstrate their abilities meet expectations. ⁴

Structural Engineer Project Example:

Structural Engineers can work in all stages of a construction project. Often they will lead the preliminary design of a project and work closely with architects.

As a Structural Engineer, an example of a project is the design of a rail bridge for a public entity like a Transit Authority. This requires collaboration with hundreds of engineers who work together to find the precise detail for sizing and planning:

large steel beams that hold it up the deck of the bridge
concrete plinths (blocks) that support the rails that the train runs on
and different structural features of the rail bridge

After the design is complete, the engineers need to facilitate the actual construction of the bridge. Once the structure is built, structural engineers complete regular inspections of bridges to evaluate their active capacity and serviceability (aka make sure they still work properly/safely).

What is the difference between Structural Engineering and Architect?

The role of a structural engineer is often confused with an architect since they both design buildings. But the main difference is shown in the table below:

In other words, the structural engineer makes the architect’s dream a reality. Structural engineers typically work for, or in conjunction with, architects. It’s the combined efforts that create a successful and long-lasting structure.⁵

Typical Structural Engineering Hierarchy:

While the specific titles vary a lot depending on the type of company, below is a typical promotional path for a structural engineer:

What types of Structural Engineering Jobs are out there?

Every company that touches engineering or construction will have structural engineers. Some common types are:

Aeronautical – aircrafts, satellites, etc.
Buildings – Houses, skyscrapers, stadiums, etc.
Oil & Gas – Pipelines, oil fields, etc.
Bridges
Nautical – Ships and other sea-based structures

What qualifications are needed to be a structural engineer?

Usually, a registered engineer has at a minimum a bachelor’s degree in engineering and at least four years of experience working under the supervision of a registered engineer. After obtaining these credentials the engineer must pass a licensing exam and after passing the exam the engineer can then practice as a registered engineer.⁶

However, one can get an entry-level structural engineering job after college and gain a lot of relevant and useful skills/experiences before qualifying for a license.

What types of skills are necessary to be a successful Structural Engineer?

Good with numbers
Civil Engineering/Structural Engineering knowledge
Scientific/physics knowledge
Analytical thinking
Computer programming ability
Good communication skills
Team Player
Attention to detail
Ability to work under pressure⁷

What are some challenges of being a Structural Engineer?

Work hours can be long – often need to complete projects within a strict deadline
Can be dangerous at the work site – project sites have construction machinery, dust, sharp tools, pollution, etc.
Remote locations for work – can be difficult traveling a lot and not working in the same place
Stressful work at times – since the consequences of making a mistake can be very dangerous when designing and analyzing large structures⁸

What are some benefits of being in Structural Engineering?

Good pay
Always will be demand for structural engineers, since structures will always need to be designed and analyzed for safety, efficiency, etc.
Exciting to see your hard work have a tangible, and often large final result
Unique blend of creative and technical work
Not sitting at a desk all day⁹

Typical Salary?

The average structural engineer, according to payscale, makes around $70k per year.

Should I become a Structural Engineer?

If you are interested in using mathematics, physics, and other technical skills to design and analyze physical structures that build modern society, you should consider a career in Structural Engineering. It can be a difficult job but ultimately is very rewarding working through a project from start to finish, and seeing hundreds, thousands or maybe even millions of people interact with your structure regularly.

Structural engineering tends to be a discipline considered as a subset of “civil engineering”, so becoming this type of engineer requires experience in these subjects. Demand for individuals with this type of experience will always be high as structures need to be designed, built, maintained, and even destroyed in a safe, stable, and efficient manner.

Relevant Forum Discussions

Want To Further Discuss Structural Engineering?

Related Careers:

Manufacturing Engineer

Master’s Degree

Mechanical Engineer

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Mechanical Engineer

Mr. Creer — Sat, 22 Feb 2020 02:33:20 +0000

Mechanical Engineer

Mechanical Engineers design and create devices to solve a problem. For practically every technological device ever created, there are mechanical engineers responsible for creating it. A Mechanical Engineer will:

Research
Design
Develop
Build
and Test

a device (such as a tool, engine, machine, etc). Furthermore, they often design and oversee the manufacturing of their products as well. Keep on reading below to understand Mechanical Engineering within minutes.

What kinds of Mechanical Engineer Jobs are there?

There are many different industries for those with a Mechanical Engineering background. For example, below are some common specializations in which a Mechanical Engineer can work and create devices (list partially inspired by Jake Voorhees).

Aerospace – related to planes, rockets, space transportation/exploration companies, etc.
Automotive – related to cars, vehicles, transportation, etc.
Biomedical – artificial limbs, artificial valves, surgical assistance, etc.
Built Environment – heating, ventilation, air conditioning, smoke vent systems, etc.
Chemical – often involved in the production materials used in the chemical industry like pipework, pumps, ovens, robots that aid in production processes, etc.
Consumer Goods – of or related to the manufacturing and production of consumer goods. A bit broader skill set exposure.
Defense – of or related to the military, and tools/facilities they use.
Marine – engines, boilers, and other tools and devices for ships
Oil and Gas – work with energy companies. Build devices or systems for the storage, transportation, and usage of the energy source.
Power Generation – build and maintain structures and systems that collect, contain and transfer energy (solar, wind turbines, etc.)
Rail – railroad-related businesses

In general, engineers usually stay in one specialization for the majority of their careers. You can switch early on, but after 5-10 years you become an expert in your specialization, and people often elect to remain in the same industry.

What Does a Mechanical Engineer Do?

Mechanical Engineers almost always work in teams. On a normal day, one collaborates with their team members on the specific project at hand. Typically, a project will have a few key milestones and you’ll be working toward meeting each of these milestones (while regularly sharing progress with your project manager).

Some daily activities include:

Work with mechanics and users to understand the problem, and how a product/device/part currently works (so that you can address the problem and fix it).
Create or review technical drawings (aka design of a product, tool, machine, part, etc.)
Design parts or other objects in CAD (computer-aided design) software
Create Prototypes of parts you designed and test them
Research and monitor the performance of parts you created

Mechanical Engineer Project Workflow:

Mechanical Engineers might be involved in just one or two of the following processes (sometimes all of them), but below are some examples of their main responsibilities and the order in which they occur for a typical project:

Example of a Mechanical Engineering Project:

A common project might be improving the design of a part, tool, or other objects. The process might go as follows:

Mechanical Engineering Project Example

The project begins with being notified that the existing design of a part (of a device) has a flaw or can be improved. You’d usually be given a series of complaints or data regarding its failure.
Need to understand the flaws and failures of the existing design.
Conduct research on how the part is currently being used, how it fails, and what things you must design around (ergonomics, size, fit with other parts, etc).
Once you have an idea of what the current problems are, you start thinking about how you might make improvements.
You’ll usually come up with a few solutions, and design them in a CAD (computer aided design) software so you can visualize and design the details.
Generally, you’ll have the opportunity to 3D print your new designs and test how they fit and how well it works. In this first testing phase, you can be very creative and try as many ideas as you like.
From here, you work with another engineer, plan how to build these parts, and decide the best materials to use to make it.
Once all these processes are complete, the findings are shared with the team and leadership. Then, after everyone is in agreement, the designs are built according to your specification and is used in the real world.

Furthermore, you’ll sometimes have the opportunity to create parts or tools that are completely new and original. You’ll usually be given a list of limitations, and take time to come up with solutions for this unique challenge (while staying within the bounds of limitations). The general process remains the same, but research, design, and testing phases will typically be longer.

Typical MechE Hierarchy:

While this varies from company to company, a typical promotional path looks as follows:

Are there different types of “Mechanical Engineers”?

Mechanical engineering can be very broad. We discussed several industries in an earlier section that Mechanical Engineers work in. Furthermore, below is a list of other similar engineering titles (technically included in the mechanical engineering umbrella):

Mechanical Design Engineer -generally focused on the design of parts and tools.
Manufacturing Engineer -generally focused on how to build parts and tools.
Aerodynamics Engineer -generally focused on how things move through the air and water.
Powertrain Engineer – generally focused on how to build engines.
Process Engineer – generally focused on automating processes and making a manufacturing process better and faster.
Mechatronics Engineer – generally focused on how electrical and mechanical components work together (think robots!)

Some general examples of tools/methodologies a Mechanical Engineer uses

Computer-Aided Design (CAD)/computer software – used to help visualize and make changes to the design of a part, tool, machine, etc. before creating it in the real world.
3D printers – to print the design and get the correct fit (see how it fits/looks in 3D rather than on paper/on a computer). You use this before creating it with the actual material.
Documents – to track and manage specific instructions and deliverables (material that needs to be completed and how to create it)
Excel – for data management and organization.
Powerpoint – for presentations and graphics that might be needed

Necessary skills/experience to be a successful Mechanical Engineer:

Engineering degree – need to have graduated from a college/university
Math and science skills/interests – will need to use both when working on projects.
Creativity – to properly identify product solutions to problems that arise
Team player – will usually be working on a team and need to communicate your findings, progress, and collaborate to complete a task.

What are some challenges of working in Mechanical Engineering?

A lot of pressure to not improperly make a tool, part, product, machine, etc. If you miscalculate or are careless it can not only be costly but dangerous to those that use it.
Can have an unpredictable workload – if you need to complete an urgent project, you might have to work quite hard to get it complete well, and on time.
As a mechanical engineer you almost always work on a project with a team. As a result, you need to depend on and collaborate efficiently with team members (who sometimes can be difficult to work with).

What are some benefits of working in Mechanical Engineering?

There always is demand for Mechanical Engineers – where you see technological innovation, you will find a mechanical engineer to design, develop, and test the product, tool, part, machine, etc.
A lot of options – can choose from many industries or disciplines with a mechanical engineering background.
Exciting, cutting-edge work – You get to be innovative, and create tools and devices that shape the future.
Strong compensation
Usually a good work/life balance – generally not long hours, but depends on the company you work for.

Typical Salary?

Salaries for Mechanical Engineering tend to be strong but vary depending on the industry and company you work for. The average salary for an entry-level mechanical engineer can range anywhere from $60k – $140k.

According to Indeed, the average Mechanical Engineering salary in the USA is about $89k.

Should I go into Mechanical Engineering?

Mechanical Engineering at its most basic level is all about looking at a problem, understanding the challenges, and coming up with a clever solution. People who are creative and like math and science excel in this career path. There is a wide range of industries and projects available to mechanical engineers. Meaning, you have many options and have the opportunity to choose a project that excites you.

If designing, developing, and monitoring the creation of devices/tools that shape the future sound interesting to you, and you enjoy the hands-on work of engineering, you should look further into Mechanical Engineering careers.

Relevant Forum Discussions

Want To Further Discuss Engineering Careers?

Mechanical Engineer Job & Interview Prep

Related Careers:

Software Engineering

Manufacturing Engineer

Structural Engineer

Think we are missing important information? Had trouble understanding some sections of this page? Anything else you are still wondering about? Please let us know on the feedback page!

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