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What Are the Different Types of Instrumentation Engineer Jobs?

C.B. Fox
C.B. Fox

Many types of instrumentation engineer jobs are found in factories, power plants, and educational facilities. These engineers maintain the electronic equipment that runs a factory or plant or design new equipment and systems to regulate processes in these facilities. Most of these jobs are hands-on and require that the engineer be able to assemble intricate electronics and machinery. Some instrumentation engineer jobs may also focus on the testing of the various components within a device.

Many instrumentation engineer jobs are found within companies that create electronic devices that are used to automatically control variables such as temperature and pressure in an air or water system or the speed of various pieces of machinery. Creating new instruments can involve everything from the conception of a new device and the fabrication of prototypes to the testing of a completed product. Instrumentation engineers may also improve upon existing technologies or design systems, allowing them to function more efficiently.

Instrumentation engineers have expert knowledge of mechanical and electrical engineering, computer drafting programs, and physical construction techniques.
Instrumentation engineers have expert knowledge of mechanical and electrical engineering, computer drafting programs, and physical construction techniques.

Other types of instrumentation engineer jobs can be found in factories and plants that use environmental monitoring devices. These engineers may also be responsible for installing the devices and for making sure that they continue to work properly at all times. They may take devices apart in order to test their components or to fix pieces which have broken. They also perform routine maintenance on these instruments, such as recalibration or cleaning the components. These tasks are vital to maintaining the safety of a plant, protecting both the workers inside and the environment nearby.

Factories often employ instrumentation engineers.
Factories often employ instrumentation engineers.

In many situations, an instrumentation engineer may be called upon to examine a current system and determine ways to improve it. These types of instrumentation engineer jobs can involve creating new devices as well as altering existing ones so that they function more efficiently. Jobs like these can be found in any of the industries that create or use monitoring equipment, and these engineers can work in design, fabrication, and testing of systems and instruments.

Instrumentation engineers can work in areas such as fabrication and the testing of systems and instruments.
Instrumentation engineers can work in areas such as fabrication and the testing of systems and instruments.

Aside from hands-on jobs in factories and plants, instrumentation engineers may also be employed at universities. Here, the role of the engineer is to instruct the next generation of engineers in the knowledge needed to successfully work on electronic instruments. These instrumentation engineers may guide students through the processes of designing, manufacturing, and testing equipment and may also teach them how to install and monitor the devices.

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    • Instrumentation engineers have expert knowledge of mechanical and electrical engineering, computer drafting programs, and physical construction techniques.
      By: Marzky Ragsac Jr.
      Instrumentation engineers have expert knowledge of mechanical and electrical engineering, computer drafting programs, and physical construction techniques.
    • Factories often employ instrumentation engineers.
      By: .shock
      Factories often employ instrumentation engineers.
    • Instrumentation engineers can work in areas such as fabrication and the testing of systems and instruments.
      By: Lisa F. Young
      Instrumentation engineers can work in areas such as fabrication and the testing of systems and instruments.
    • Some instrumentation engineers design and build complex control systems for industrial machinery.
      By: Sergio Di Giovanni
      Some instrumentation engineers design and build complex control systems for industrial machinery.
    • An aspiring control and instrumentation engineer should excel in mathematics classes in high school.
      By: Gennadiy Poznyakov
      An aspiring control and instrumentation engineer should excel in mathematics classes in high school.
    • An instrumentation design engineer may be tasked with making computer numerical control industrial machinery easier to program.
      By: Maurizio Targhetta
      An instrumentation design engineer may be tasked with making computer numerical control industrial machinery easier to program.