R&D Engineer

This is a highly specialized position meant for the engineer who has decided that a particular branch of science or technology will become the foundation of the person’s career. Sometimes we confused this position with the product development engineer. Many companies actually call their product development engineers as R&D. This is not exactly correct.

There are many elements in the job specification that separates these two jobs:

• R&D develops knowledge that does not exist today, but will be useful for tomorrow’s solutions.
• Product development develops on existing body of knowledge to realize today’s products and solutions.
• R&D is highly specialized in a particular field. Dwells deeply into the theoretical foundations of a technology.
• Product development can be specialized but from a product perspective. Dwells into the various technologies and solutions that when combined together will create a competitive product.
• R&D delivers new knowledge to a company’s creation process
• Product development delivers new products to the market.

Unlike the product development engineer, the R&D engineer does not need to gain experience as a manufacturing, product and product development engineer. Although beneficial, it is possible for candidates to move straight into this job if the scientific background is appropriate. The reason is that knowledge is not product related, but products are technology and process related.

In general, the R&D engineering career is a life career choice. Engineers here move from different jobs in different companies more for the technology than for promotions. Of course, pay is still an important factor.

Most companies use R&D engineers to realize their long-term technology acquisition roadmaps. All companies have a vision of the future and what needs to be overcome to get there. R&D engineers are hired to overcome the technology barriers and come up with knowledge leading to the solutions required for the company’s winning future product offerings.

It is important to note that in the business world, even R&D engineers are on a timeline – sometimes tight ones. It is necessary that companies compete with knowledge acquisition as much as market dominance. No company is alone it its research and development initiatives. Competitors compete on who will be first in acquiring the key knowledge.

Here are some key successful characteristics for an R&D engineer:

• A passion for the technical selected field of interest.
• An expert in the theoretical and design aspects of that field
• Have a wide network of collaborators of equal standing both inside and outside of the company.
• Technical leadership within the company to identify knowledge development initiatives within the company’s technology vision.
• A key contributor to the company’s technology roadmap via deep understanding of the challenges faced towards acquiring these technologies.
• A good communicator that is able to motivate the thinking of colleagues.