Mechanical Design Engineer. It’s one of those jobs that needs a little extra explanation because people insist on thinking its drawing pictures for a living.
But, with an average starting salary of between £20,000 and £27,000, you’ll be expected to do a lot more than sketch portraits of nuts and bolts.
Most industries rely on mechanical systems and so there are employment opportunities in a wide range of sectors, such as manufacturing, construction and even medicine.
This means every project will, understandably, be different, but since you’re starting at the drawing board (virtually, at the drawing board), a good knowledge of CAD (computer assisted design) and CAE (computer assisted engineering) terminals will be vital.
Before putting stylus to screen you’ll also need a handle on mathematical modelling –and how to stress test developments and innovations before your team gets into drawing up a prototype of the product or structure.
Get all of these skills in your tool bag and where can they take you?
Well, as they like to say in engineering circles, the world is your workshop: all you have to do to make good things happen is get started.
You may want to become involved with recent Scottish-led innovations in carbon fibre design and extrusion, a technology used on everything from F1 car parts to space shuttles.
Or perhaps you fancy the ergonomic design that goes into every new generation of mobile phones.
There really is no limit to where your imagination, tempered with a good understanding of the fundamentals of design, could take you among the many roles available on s1jobs.
This is true, even if you’re only at the start of your engineering journey.
Always had a good eye for drawing but never knew how to turn art into engineering qualifications?
Luckily, there’s the Institute of Engineering Designers (IED) and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) ready and waiting for your call.
They have a long list of accredited courses and there are a number of apprenticeship schemes across the country.
There are also HND and HNC courses available at most Scottish universities, and you can start off in numerous fields, from as specific as CAD engineering to as general as materials science.
Scotland’s history of engineering and manufacturing has always made it a hotbed of talent.