Also called: Robot Gripper Designer, EOAT Engineer
Designs the "hands" on factory robots: grippers, suction cups and custom tools that pick up anything from eggs to car doors.
A bakery wants a robot to pack soft rolls without squishing them. You design a gripper with soft fingers and vacuum cups in CAD, 3D print a prototype, and test it on real rolls. Then you tweak it until the robot can pick 60 a minute without a miss.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Associate's degree (2-year), about 2 years after high school. Associate or bachelor's in mechanical engineering technology; CAD skills essential.
Ways in: 2-year college, 4-year college, On-the-job training. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Mechanical Engineering Technology, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics Technology.
Growing faster than average. Every new robot needs a hand built for its job.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI tools suggest gripper shapes, but testing on real, messy products and fixing what fails stays human.
Classes: CAD or engineering class, Physics, Geometry, Shop class.
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.