What makes a good Mechanical Design Engineer?
As an outsource engineering design consultancy providing professional mechanical design services over the last 30 years or so, we have come to know the ins and outs of what makes a good, reliable mechanical design engineer.
With the other main division of Nova acting as a recruitment agency, we need to ensure we supply our clients with the best mechanical design engineers available.
Employing around 40 mechanical design engineers in our modern design office based in Kingswinford, West Midlands, our design team possess the relevant mechanical engineering knowledge, combined with the correct attitudes in order to produce the highest quality CAD models and drawings for our clients.
When recruiting mechanical engineering design staff to come and work in our internal design office or out on site for any one of our various clients, we look for the following skills:
- Broad mechanical engineering knowledge (this can be developed through studying, experience within mechanical engineering industries or by taking a keen interest in the subject)
- Ideally ONC/HNC/BEng in Mechanical Engineering or Production Engineering
- A high level of computer literacy – Microsoft Office suite or similar
- Knowledge and experience with 2D and 3D CAD software packages
- A high attention to detail
- An innovative mind to find efficient, cost effective design solutions
- Dedication towards work and taking pride in design projects carried out
- The passion to learn new skills and develop new design techniques
- A thorough attitude towards their work, leaving no room for doubt in a finalised design
When recruiting for a senior mechanical design role, we will also look for years of experience and examples of success (in the form of a portfolio or references) in mechanical engineering fields relevant to the work we carry out.
We believe a good design engineer will work quickly, efficiently and meticulously, taking no shortcuts or skipping stages during the design process.
Knowledge and experience with both 2D and 3D CAD software can be essential, so an individual who has had experience learning particular software techniques in order to work efficiently is always beneficial.
As our CAD services cover the majority of mechanical engineering disciplines, the staff that we employ are from a variety of engineering backgrounds.
Regardless of experience, no two mechanical design engineers will possess the same skill set, as they will all have certain skills which are geared towards certain industries.
If you’re looking to recruit or you’re looking for ways to make yourself more employable as a mechanical design engineer, keep in mind that mental attributes such as attention to detail and passion for mechanical engineering can be just as important as skills and qualifications.