Also called: Validation Engineer, Durability Engineer
Plans and runs tests that try to break products on purpose to prove they're safe and tough enough.
You program a machine to bend a car seat hinge back and forth 100,000 times, freeze a dashboard to -40 degrees, and shake an electronics box on a vibration table. When something fails, you play detective to find out why.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in mechanical engineering or mechanical engineering technology.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Technology.
Growing much faster than average (about 9% over 10 years). Rolled into mechanical engineers.
Low risk for 10 years. AI helps analyze test data and spot anomalies; building fixtures, running rigs and investigating why parts broke stays hands-on.
Classes: Physics, Statistics, Shop or welding class, Electronics.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2141.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.