Update a body panel's design
Simulate each option's strength by computer, minding cost and weight, then discuss a change with the design engineer.
Career profile
Automotive Engineer
Automotive engineers design vehicle systems, then test how well they work together.
How do you prove a change to a car's steering or structure works? Automotive engineers turn that question into designs, measurements and decisions.
A day in the life
Plan a repeatable track test
Set conditions, confirm the loaded software release, and brief the track crew so each run tests one question.
Trace a reaction nobody expected
Match logged data against test notes, then choose to rerun or dig into the car's software and hardware.
Hit performance and emissions requirements
In calibration jobs, adjust control-software settings, then measure the engine's output on a dynamometer test stand.
Quick facts
Usually a bachelor's degree
United States
Not displayed
Pay depends on the particular engineering role and its experience requirements.
Not displayed
A national growth rate is not available for this specialty alone.
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
Usually a bachelor's degreeEngineering study is the usual starting point.
Pay
Not displayedPay depends on the particular engineering role and its experience requirements.
Outlook
Not displayedA national growth rate is not available for this specialty alone.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You like using measurements to settle a question.
- You can explain why you changed your design.
- You enjoy checking small details with other people.
Things to weigh
- Expect substantial screen time and written records alongside vehicle work.
- Track-testing schedules can extend beyond normal hours when vehicles or facilities are available.
Where AI may help
Scripts can automate repeated bench and vehicle tests. Computer simulations help engineers compare designs before building them.
What people still lead
You still choose useful test conditions and decide what an unexpected result means for the next test or design change.
What we can’t predict yet
How much physical testing a simulation can replace depends on the vehicle system and how faithfully the model reproduces its behavior.
Pay in context
Earnings
The broader mechanical-engineering field gives you useful pay context. These figures include specialties beyond automotive engineering.
Median and pay spread
U.S. mechanical engineers had a median wage of $104,110 a year, or $50.05 an hour. The 10th–90th percentile range was $73,990–$164,340 annually. Those endpoints describe lower- and higher-paid workers across the occupation, not starting and senior salaries.
Pay across workplace types
For mechanical engineers, annual median pay was $105,560 in transportation equipment manufacturing, $103,440 in architectural, engineering, and related services, and $132,040 in scientific research and development services. These broad industry groups include work beyond vehicles; they do not predict what a particular employer will offer you.
Openings across mechanical engineering
Employment of mechanical engineers is projected to grow 11% from 2025 to 2035, with about 17,800 openings a year on average. Openings include replacing people who leave the occupation. These projections cover the whole mechanical-engineering field and do not isolate automotive jobs.
Getting started
Study mechanical engineering with an automotive focus
- What the route involves
- Complete a bachelor's degree with math, physics, engineering labs, and design projects. Automotive coursework can add vehicle performance and engine design.
- What it can lead to
- You develop the technical foundation for vehicle design and testing roles, with project work to discuss in interviews.
Combine your degree with paid cooperative work
Paid
- What the route involves
- Choose a degree with integrated cooperative education. Kettering's mechanical engineering program combines classes and labs with paid industry work.
- What it can lead to
- You gain workplace experience while studying and can develop a senior design project with your employer.
- What to check
- This is a route through college; the work experience accompanies the degree.
Build an engineering foundation, then apply it to vehicles through projects and work experience.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization.
Get established
Learn your team's test procedures and keep clear records so another engineer can reproduce your results.
Develop a specialty
Take deeper responsibility for a system. In engine calibration, learn how control settings affect performance and how to investigate results that miss the target.
Lead technical decisions
Advance toward leading a design analysis or vehicle-testing effort, coordinating other people's work and explaining the evidence behind decisions.
Where you can work
Automaker design teams
Work with other engineers around computer models and design reviews, resolving competing performance, weight, and cost requirements.
- Office
Vehicle-system suppliers
In engine-management work, you translate a customer's performance targets into settings and tests. Expect contact with customer engineers, dynamometer work, and possible travel.
- Office
- Lab
- Travel
Proving grounds
Closed test tracks put you beside real vehicles and recording equipment. Weather, vehicle readiness, and track access shape the working day.
- Outdoors
- Vehicle
- Safety-sensitive
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
Roll a toy car down a low cardboard ramp onto two different surfaces. Keep the release point fixed, repeat each trial, and measure stopping distance. Write what changed and what you would test next. Notice whether making the comparison fair interests you as much as the result.
Stay safe: Use a clear floor area and a toy car; this is not a test to perform with a real vehicle.
Sources
- O*NET OnLine. Automotive Engineers — 17-2141.02. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- O*NET OnLine. National Wages: Automotive Engineers. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational projections and worker characteristics. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Ford Motor Company. Body Exteriors and Closures CAE Engineer. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- General Motors. Autonomous Vehicle Test Engineer. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Bosch Group. Calibration Engineer for Engine Management System — Two Wheeler and Powersports. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- General Motors. 2027 Summer Intern — Systems/Calibration Engineer, ADAS Drive. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Kettering University. Mechanical Engineering, B.S.. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Mechanical Engineers — Occupational Outlook Handbook. Accessed 2026-10-04.