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Mechanical Engineering Technologists and Technicians

Apply theory and principles of mechanical engineering to modify, develop, test, or adjust machinery and equipment under direction of engineering staff or physical scientists.
Related: Aerospace Engineering & Operations Technologists & Technicians  Calibration Technologists & Technicians  Electrical & Electronic Engineering Technologists & Technicians  Industrial Engineering Technologists & Technicians  Robotics Technicians 
Industries: Manufacturing  Professional, Science, & Technical 

  • Summary

  • Details

    • Work Activities

    • Review project instructions and specifications to identify, modify and plan requirements fabrication, assembly and testing.
    • Test machines, components, materials, or products to determine characteristics such as performance, strength, or response to stress.
    • Analyze test results in relation to design or rated specifications and test objectives, and modify or adjust equipment to meet specifications.
    • Prepare equipment inspection schedules, reliability schedules, work plans, or other records.
    • Analyze energy requirements and distribution systems to maximize the use of intermittent or inflexible renewable energy sources, such as wind or nuclear.
    • Design specialized or customized equipment, machines, or structures.
    • Prepare specifications, designs, or sketches for machines, components, or systems related to the generation, transmission, or use of mechanical or fluid energy.
    • Assist engineers to design, develop, test, or manufacture industrial machinery, consumer products, or other equipment.
    • Prepare parts sketches and write work orders and purchase requests to be furnished by outside contractors.
    • Evaluate tool drawing designs by measuring drawing dimensions and comparing with original specifications for form and function using engineering skills.
    • Set up and conduct tests of complete units and components under operational conditions to investigate proposals for improving equipment performance.
    • Set up prototype and test apparatus and operate test controlling equipment to observe and record prototype test results.
    • Review project instructions and blueprints to ascertain test specifications, procedures, and objectives, and test nature of technical problems such as redesign.
    • Calculate required capacities for equipment of proposed system to obtain specified performance and submit data to engineering personnel for approval.
    • Prepare layouts of machinery, tools, plants, or equipment.
    • Assist engineers to design, develop, test, or manufacture industrial machinery, consumer products, or other equipment.
    • Prepare parts sketches and write work orders and purchase requests to be furnished by outside contractors.
    • Record test procedures and results, numerical and graphical data, and recommendations for changes in product or test methods.
    • Conduct failure analyses, document results, and recommend corrective actions.
    • Assemble or disassemble complex mechanical systems.
    • Read dials and meters to determine amperage, voltage, electrical output and input at specific operating temperature to analyze parts performance.
    • Provide technical support to other employees regarding mechanical design, fabrication, testing, or documentation.
    • Conduct failure analyses, document results, and recommend corrective actions.
    • Conduct statistical studies to analyze or compare production costs for sustainable and nonsustainable designs.
    • Design molds, tools, dies, jigs, or fixtures for use in manufacturing processes.
    • Assist mechanical engineers in product testing through activities such as setting up instrumentation for automobile crash tests.
    • Estimate cost factors including labor and material for purchased and fabricated parts and costs for assembly, testing, or installing.
    • Conduct failure analyses, document results, and recommend corrective actions.
    • Draft detail drawing or sketch for drafting room completion or to request parts fabrication by machine, sheet or wood shops.
    • Prepare specifications, designs, or sketches for machines, components, or systems related to the generation, transmission, or use of mechanical or fluid energy.
    • Interpret engineering sketches, specifications, or drawings.
    • Assist engineers to design, develop, test, or manufacture industrial machinery, consumer products, or other equipment.

    Skills

    • Monitoring
      • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
    • Instructing
      • Teaching people how to do something.
    • Judgment and Decision Making
      • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
    • Troubleshooting
      • Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
    • Negotiation
      • Bringing people together to solve differences.
    • Active Learning
      • Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
    • Management of Financial Resources
      • Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
    • Coordination
      • Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
    • Persuasion
      • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
    • Systems Evaluation
      • Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
    • Technology Design
      • Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
    • Time Management
      • Managing your time and the time of other people.
    • Reading Comprehension
      • Reading work-related information.
    • Management of Material Resources
      • Managing equipment and materials.
    • Writing
      • Writing things for co-workers or customers.
    • Learning Strategies
      • Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
    • Quality Control Analysis
      • Testing how well a product or service works.
    • Science
      • Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
    • Repairing
      • Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
    • Operations Analysis
      • Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
    • Speaking
      • Talking to others.
    • Equipment Maintenance
      • Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
    • Systems Analysis
      • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
    • Programming
      • Writing computer programs.
    • Management of Personnel Resources
      • Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
    • Equipment Selection
      • Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
    • Mathematics
      • Using math to solve problems.
    • Operations Monitoring
      • Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
    • Installation
      • Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
    • Complex Problem Solving
      • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
    • Social Perceptiveness
      • Understanding people's reactions.
    • Operation and Control
      • Using equipment or systems.
    • Critical Thinking
      • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
    • Active Listening
      • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
    • Service Orientation
      • Looking for ways to help people.

    Abilities

    • Control Precision
      • Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
    • Auditory Attention
      • Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
    • Perceptual Speed
      • Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
    • Night Vision
      • Seeing at night or under low light.
    • Speech Recognition
      • Recognizing spoken words.
    • Extent Flexibility
      • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
    • Wrist-Finger Speed
      • Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
    • Mathematical Reasoning
      • Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
    • Glare Sensitivity
      • Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
    • Gross Body Equilibrium
      • Keeping your balance or staying upright.
    • Oral Comprehension
      • Listening and understanding what people say.
    • Visual Color Discrimination
      • Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
    • Multilimb Coordination
      • Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
    • Problem Sensitivity
      • Noticing when problems happen.
    • Arm-Hand Steadiness
      • Keeping your arm or hand steady.
    • Visualization
      • Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
    • Selective Attention
      • Paying attention to something without being distracted.
    • Category Flexibility
      • Grouping things in different ways.
    • Number Facility
      • Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
    • Reaction Time
      • Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
    • Speech Clarity
      • Speaking clearly.
    • Time Sharing
      • Doing two or more things at the same time.
    • Speed of Closure
      • Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
    • Dynamic Flexibility
      • Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
    • Hearing Sensitivity
      • Telling the difference between sounds.
    • Fluency of Ideas
      • Coming up with lots of ideas.
    • Written Expression
      • Communicating by writing.
    • Flexibility of Closure
      • Seeing hidden patterns.
    • Far Vision
      • Seeing details that are far away.
    • Manual Dexterity
      • Holding or moving items with your hands.
    • Inductive Reasoning
      • Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
    • Explosive Strength
      • Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
    • Information Ordering
      • Ordering or arranging things.
    • Trunk Strength
      • Using your lower back and stomach.
    • Response Orientation
      • Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
    • Static Strength
      • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
    • Rate Control
      • Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
    • Written Comprehension
      • Reading and understanding what is written.
    • Gross Body Coordination
      • Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
    • Peripheral Vision
      • Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
    • Speed of Limb Movement
      • Quickly moving your arms and legs.
    • Originality
      • Creating new and original ideas.
    • Dynamic Strength
      • Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
    • Spatial Orientation
      • Knowing where things are around you.
    • Memorization
      • Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
    • Sound Localization
      • Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
    • Stamina
      • Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
    • Oral Expression
      • Communicating by speaking.
    • Deductive Reasoning
      • Using rules to solve problems.
    • Finger Dexterity
      • Putting together small parts with your fingers.
    • Depth Perception
      • Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
    • Near Vision
      • Seeing details up close.

    Knowledge

    • Computers and Electronics
      • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
    • Engineering and Technology
      • Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
    • Philosophy and Theology
      • Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
    • Production and Processing
      • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
    • Psychology
      • Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
    • Foreign Language
      • Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
    • Sales and Marketing
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
    • Therapy and Counseling
      • Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
    • History and Archeology
      • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
    • Customer and Personal Service
      • Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
    • Economics and Accounting
      • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
    • Administrative
      • Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
    • Mathematics
      • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
    • Physics
      • Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
    • Public Safety and Security
      • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
    • Education and Training
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
    • Law and Government
      • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
    • Telecommunications
      • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
    • Geography
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
    • Biology
      • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
    • Mechanical
      • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
    • Building and Construction
      • Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
    • English Language
      • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
    • Food Production
      • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
    • Medicine and Dentistry
      • Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
    • Administration and Management
      • Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
    • Transportation
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
    • Fine Arts
      • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
    • Communications and Media
      • Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
    • Chemistry
      • Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
    • Personnel and Human Resources
      • Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
    • Design
      • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
    • Sociology and Anthropology
      • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    Education

    Education
    Associate's degree
    Work Experience
    No work experience
    Training
    No on-the-job training
    Education and Training Opportunities

    Pay

    Washington Annual Salary
    73980/yr
    Washington Hourly Wage
    35.57/hr

    Washington Employment Trends

    Currently Employed
    1,140
    Yearly Projected Openings
    130

    Personality

    Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:
    • Attention to Detail
    • Analytical Thinking
    • Dependability
    • Initiative
    • Integrity
    • Persistence

    Tools

    • Accelerometers
    • Adjustable wrenches
    • Air compressors
    • Ammeters
    • Amplifiers
    • Analytical balances
    • Anemometers
    • Angle grinder
    • Belt sander
    • Bench scales
    • Benchtop centrifuges
    • Binocular light compound microscopes
    • Boring machines
    • C clamps
    • Calipers
    • Calorimeters
    • Claw hammer
    • Comparators
    • Compression testers
    • Coordinate measuring machines CMM
    • Cutting die
    • Cylinder gauge
    • Dial indicator or dial gauge
    • Drill press or radial drill
    • Dynamometers
    • Extruders
    • Fatigue testers
    • Flow sensors
    • Flow transmitters
    • Force or torque sensors
    • Forklifts
    • Form tools or toolbits
    • Fume hoods or cupboards
    • Fused deposition modeling machine
    • Gage block set
    • Gas welding or brazing or cutting apparatus
    • Go or no go gauge
    • Goggles
    • Graphics tablets
    • Hacksaw
    • Hardness testers
    • Height gauges
    • Hex keys
    • Hole gauge
    • Horizontal turning center
    • Hydraulic press frames
    • Impact testers
    • Induction heaters
    • Injection molding machines
    • Inverted microscopes
    • Laboratory benches
    • Laminated object manufacturing machine
    • Levels
    • Lifter plate
    • Load frame
    • Loadcells
    • Locking pliers
    • Longnose pliers
    • Manual press brake
    • Metal band sawing machine
    • Metal inert gas welding machine
    • Metal markers or holders
    • Metal polishing machine
    • Metal slitting saw
    • Metal testing instruments
    • Microcontrollers
    • Micrometers
    • Microprocessors
    • Mill saw file
    • Milling machines
    • Multimeters
    • Notebook computers
    • Nut drivers
    • Offset screw driver
    • Oscilloscopes
    • Personal computers
    • Photoelastic testing instruments
    • Pitch measuring instruments
    • Plasma cutting machine
    • Plotter printers
    • Pneumatic impact wrenches
    • Polarimeters
    • Polishing machines
    • Positioning jig
    • Power drills
    • Power grinders
    • Power saws
    • Pressure indicators
    • Pressure sensors
    • Protective gloves
    • Protractors
    • Punches or nail sets or drifts
    • Rotameters
    • Rulers
    • Scanners
    • Screwdrivers
    • Scribers
    • Scroll saw
    • Selective laser sintering machine
    • Shear strength testers
    • Shears
    • Shielded metal arc welding or stick welding machine
    • Signal conditioners
    • Signal generators
    • Sine bar
    • Slip or groove joint pliers
    • Socket sets
    • Sound measuring apparatus or decibel meter
    • Spectrometers
    • Spot welding machine
    • Squares
    • Strain gauges
    • Stripping tools
    • Surface grinding machine
    • Tape measures
    • Taper gauge
    • Taps
    • Temperature transmitters
    • Tension testers
    • Thermal differential analyzers
    • Thickness measuring devices
    • Thread counters or gauges
    • Three dimensional printing machine
    • Torsion testers
    • Tracer or duplicating or contouring lathe
    • Tumblers or polishers
    • Tungsten inert gas welding machine
    • Twin screw extruder
    • Ultrasonic examination equipment
    • Universal milling machine
    • Utility knives
    • Vacuum molding machines
    • Vacuum pumps
    • Vertical machining center
    • Vibration testers
    • Water baths
    • Wave soldering machine
    • Welder torch
    • Welding masks
    • Wire cutters

    Technology

    • Analytical or scientific software
    • Cloud-based data access and sharing software
    • Computer aided design CAD software
    • Computer aided manufacturing CAM software
    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Development environment software
    • Electronic mail software
    • Enterprise resource planning ERP software
    • Industrial control software
    • Internet browser software
    • Object or component oriented development software
    • Office suite software
    • Presentation software
    • Process mapping and design software
    • Project management software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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