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Design industrial systems or equipment

Work activity · O*NET

Design industrial systems or equipment is an intermediate work activity in the O*NET database — a concrete task that recurs across many occupations , grouped under Drafting, Laying Out, and Specifying Technical Devices, Parts, and Equipment. 32 occupations report doing it as part of their work.

What it involves

The most common detailed activities O*NET records under this category, ranked by how many occupation tasks map to each.

  • Design industrial processing systems
  • Design industrial equipment
  • Develop equipment or component configurations
  • Design energy production or management equipment or systems
  • Design tools, fixtures, or other devices for production equipment
  • Design control systems for mechanical or other equipment

How AI is applied to this activity

Microsoft's "Working with AI" study mapped real Bing Copilot conversations to O*NET work activities. The figures below are their measurements for this activity — they describe how AI is used today in one assistant's data, not a forecast that the activity will be automated.

AI completes it successfully 77.8% When Copilot attempts this activity, how often it finishes the task
Scope AI handles 22.2% How much of the activity AI carries within a conversation
Positive user feedback 55.4% Share of interactions users rated positively
How often AI is applied here 25th pct Percentile across all measured activities by how often AI performs them

Source: Microsoft "Working with AI" (working-with-ai). A high completion rate means AI can assist the activity in isolation — it does not mean an occupation that performs it is being automated, since every job blends many activities.

Detailed work activities

The more granular units of work O*NET groups under this activity, ordered by how many occupations perform them.

Occupations that perform this activity

Ranked by how many of the occupation's tasks map to this activity.

Occupation Tasks
Mechanical Engineering Technologists and Technicians 4
Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians 3
Manufacturing Engineers 3
Mechanical Engineers 3
Mechatronics Engineers 3
Microsystems Engineers 3
Robotics Engineers 3
Chemical Engineers 2
Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas 2
Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers 2
Photonics Engineers 2
Tool and Die Makers 2
Water/Wastewater Engineers 2
Wind Energy Engineers 2
Agricultural Engineers 1
Automotive Engineers 1
Avionics Technicians 1
Broadcast Technicians 1
Electrical Engineers 1
Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment 1
Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters 1
First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers 1
Geothermal Technicians 1
Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors 1
Industrial Production Managers 1
Machinists 1
Maintenance and Repair Workers, General 1
Materials Engineers 1
Model Makers, Metal and Plastic 1
Nuclear Engineers 1
Petroleum Engineers 1
Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders 1
Exposure quadrant: AI task-overlap percentile vs Median pay AI task-overlap (horizontal) versus median pay (vertical), each as a percentile across all scored occupations, for 32 occupations in occupations that perform Design industrial systems or equipment.. Overlap measures shared tasks with AI, not automation. Lower overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · lower pay Lower overlap · lower pay Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders Maintenance and Repair Workers, General Model Makers, Metal and Plastic Machinists Avionics Technicians Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment Broadcast Technicians First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers Industrial Production Managers Electrical Engineers Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians Petroleum Engineers Mechanical Engineers Water/Wastewater Engineers AI task-overlap percentile → ↑ Median pay
Occupations that perform Design industrial systems or equipment., by AI task-overlap and median pay

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Design industrial systems or equipment." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/activities/design-industrial-systems-or-equipment

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Design industrial systems or equipment. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/activities/design-industrial-systems-or-equipment

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-design-industrial-systems-or-equipment,
  title  = {Design industrial systems or equipment},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/activities/design-industrial-systems-or-equipment}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.