Computer Hardware Engineers
Research, design, develop, or test computer or computer-related equipment for commercial, industrial, military, or scientific use.
Salary distribution (US)
Real salary data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The p10–p90 spread tells you more than the median alone.
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Computers and Electronics
- Engineering and Technology
- Design
- Mathematics
- English Language
- Telecommunications
- Physics
- Production and Processing
A day in the life
You start your morning in the lab reviewing overnight test results from a prototype circuit board, checking oscilloscope readings and thermal data to see if your latest design revision passes validation. Your day alternates between schematic design in EDA tools like Cadence or Altium, hands-on bench work soldering and probing components, and design-review meetings with firmware engineers and product managers who need your hardware to meet tight power and performance specs. You troubleshoot signal-integrity issues, pore over datasheets from chip vendors, and sometimes visit manufacturing partners to resolve yield problems on the production line. The thrill of powering on a board you designed from scratch is unmatched, but the long lead times for silicon and the painstaking debugging of intermittent hardware faults require serious patience.
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