Nature of the Work   Employment   Job Outlook

Nature of the Work

Computer hardware engineers research, design, develop, and test computer hardware and supervise its manufacture and installation. Hardware refers to computer chips, circuit boards, computer systems, and related equipment such as keyboards, modems, and printers.


The work of computer hardware engineers is very similar to that of electronics engineers, but, unlike electronics engineers, computer hardware engineers work exclusively with computers and computer-related equipment. 


In addition to design and development duties, computer hardware engineers may supervise the manufacture and installation of computers and computer-related equipment. The rapid advances in computer technology are largely a result of the research, development, and design efforts of computer hardware engineers. To keep up with technological advances, these engineers must continually update their knowledge.

Employment

The number of computer hardware engineers is relatively small compared with the number of computer-related workers who work with software or computer applications. Computer hardware engineers held jobs in computer and electronic product manufacturing. They work in professional, scientific, and technical services firms, many of which provided services to the computer industry. Many of them were employed in the telecommunications.

Job Outlook

This industry is expected to continue to experience very high levels of productivity growth, which will even affect computer hardware engineers. In addition to job openings arising from employment growth, other vacancies will result from the need to replace workers who move into managerial positions, transfer to other occupations.