What makes design engineering unique?
The famous scientist "Albert Einstein" once said that "imagination is more important than knowledge." If you want a career in the designing or the design side of engineering, you need to put this excellent theory into action!
Well, not entirely – but it's undoubtedly useful to have the right mix of the two. Of course, you'll need excellence in engineering to succeed, but you'll also need to have some absolute bags and bags of imagination, creativity, and innovation.
Understandably, these guys are well-educated and specialist engineers that spend all their time designing complex products, equipment, machinery, and mechanical systems for all kinds of purposes. You'll use creative thinking, personal innovation, and technical knowledge throughout your working life.
They also use their expert designing skills to alter existing devices, gadgets, and other pieces of equipment to improve their knowledge and functionality. For instance, they can tweak the designs of a specific car engine to make it more energy-efficient.
What makes a sound design engineer?
As far as skills are concerned, you have probably already guessed that you will need to have an acute eye-for-detail, as well as patience. New product designs take more time, and you will need to be a perfectionist.
Sure, creativity is the icing on the cake, but design engineers would be nowhere without their in-depth knowledge, skills, and mastery of computer-aided design software. After all, these guys are technical masters, not fine artists. They need to have a great logical brain and an expert knowledge of maths, science, and engineering principles.
Understandably, a relevant engineering course, such as mechanical engineering or design engineering, will provide you with all the needed skills and knowledge. You will even get the chance to hone your Computer-aided design skills to a high standard. And to do so, no degree is needed. You may undoubtedly pick up appropriate designing skills through vocational qualifications and apprenticeships too.
The life of a design engineer
If you continue a career as a design engineer, you might spend your time researching and conjuring innovative thoughts. However, often this will be left to your research & development departments.
Consequently, most of your valuable time will be spent designing things based on your customers' requirements. You will be converting ideas and hair-brained schemes into detailed, technical designs using CAD or CAE (computer-aided engineering) tools. It's sporadic that you will be sketching things using a pencil and paper. It's all about using high-technology computer programs these days!
Hopefully, your ultra-careful designs will translate into components and gadgets that effectively meet your customers' demands. If not, then it's back to the drawing board. You will be tweaking things, recalculating little bits, and redesigning entire sections until everything has been sufficient, tested, modified, and refined.
