Will “Mechanical Designer” be Automated?

Core Skills & Abilities

• Fabricate models or samples in paper, wood, glass, fabric, plastic, metal, or other materials, using hand or power tools.

• Prepare sketches of ideas, detailed drawings, illustrations, artwork, or blueprints, using drafting instruments, paints and brushes, or computer-aided design equipment.

• Develop industrial standards and regulatory guidelines.

• Confer with engineering, marketing, production, or sales departments, or with customers, to establish and evaluate design concepts for manufactured products.

• Modify and refine designs, using working models, to conform with customer specifications, production limitations, or changes in design trends.

• Advise corporations on issues involving corporate image projects or problems.

• Present designs and reports to customers or design committees for approval and discuss need for modification.

• Develop manufacturing procedures and monitor the manufacture of their designs in a factory to improve operations and product quality.

• Investigate product characteristics such as the product's safety and handling qualities, its market appeal, how efficiently it can be produced, and ways of distributing, using, and maintaining it.

• Evaluate feasibility of design ideas, based on factors such as appearance, safety, function, serviceability, budget, production costs/methods, and market characteristics.

• Design graphic material for use as ornamentation, illustration, or advertising on manufactured materials and packaging or containers.

• Coordinate the look and function of product lines.

• Read publications, attend showings, and study competing products and design styles and motifs to obtain perspective and generate design concepts.

• Research production specifications, costs, production materials, and manufacturing methods and provide cost estimates and itemized production requirements.

• Supervise assistants' work throughout the design process.

• Participate in new product planning or market research, including studying the potential need for new products.

• Direct and coordinate the fabrication of models or samples and the drafting of working drawings and specification sheets from sketches.