A test engineer is responsible for the development and quality assurance of hardware. If you want to become a hardware test engineer, you will need to become an expert in engineering, planning and solving problems. This job requires you to design hardware and test it before it is released on the market.
Test engineers begin their careers with an engineering education. If you want to become a hardware test engineer, you will need a bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering or electrical engineering. You will learn how the components of a computer system function together, how hardware interacts with software and the valuable mathematic foundations that are crucial to success in this field. It is wise to take an engineering internship while you are in school in order to expose yourself to the professional world and to get needed experience in this field.
With the proper education, you will be ready to become a hardware test engineer. In order to perform this job, you must learn the processes that see a product from the drawing board to the market. Every industry has its own process for its hardware, but most follow the same basic outline of design, fabrication, testing and certification.
Designing is the first step in the process when you become a hardware test engineer. At this stage, you will take the specifications from the product development team and design a blueprint on the computer. You must do a great deal of speculation and calculation at this stage, figuring size constraints, weight, temperature, hardware limitations and system requirements. The result will be a functional plan to build a prototype.
Fabrication of prototypes is an important step in test engineering. Some companies have on-site fabrication abilities, and you can construct the hardware yourself or direct those who are responsible for prototypes to create the hardware from your blueprints. Other operations hire third-party fabricators for this step, and it is your job to communicate your vision and deal with any problems along the way.
After the prototype has been created, you actually test it. When you become a hardware test engineer, this will be a major part of your responsibilities, and it requires a great deal of problem-solving talent. You must plan ahead for the hardware's daily use requirements and possible extremes and put it through the rigors. At this stage, you might encounter unforeseen problems with the hardware and possibly have to start the process over again. After you have a satisfactory product, though, you will be able to certify it as ready for release and sale.