While an associate's degree will give a job applicant an edge in the hiring process, it's not the only training option available to aspiring mechanical engineering technicians. Anyone interested in pursuing this career--regardless of the training method chosen--should take as many math and science courses as possible in high school. After graduation, seek out on-the-job training and certification opportunities. Some employers offer apprenticeship programs that combine classroom and on-the-job training, and the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technology (NICET) offers certification in various specialties. The military also offers engineering technician training; however, the coursework is not always applicable to the civilian world, so additional training might be needed for that kind of career transition.
The chief job of an engineering technician is to assist the engineer, so two-year engineering technician specialties logically coincide with the four-year engineering program concentrations. These include civil, industrial, mechanical, electrical and various other engineering fields. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 700 programs in engineering technology specialties are approved by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). A student seeking a two-year engineering technology degree from one of these programs must take at least college algebra and trigonometry, plus some basic science courses. For a mechanical engineering specialty, a student also would study subjects like fluid mechanics, mechanical design, thermodynamics, robotics, manufacturing processes and materials.
Some community colleges and university extensions offer associate's degrees in mechanical engineering technology. Qualifying program applicants will have completed a high school education, which, ideally, will have included as many science and math classes as a student could take. In addition to the technical training needed to complete the associate's degree, a community college or university extension would also teach theory and general liberal arts courses as part of the required curriculum. Four-year colleges with full engineering programs usually do not offer the two-year mechanical engineering technician degrees.
Technical institutes and vocational-technical schools offer a two-year associate's degree similar to that available at the community college or university extension, but with less emphasis on theory and liberal arts training. They offer intensive technical training through practice and application. Like the college programs, technical school admissions generally require a high school diploma or its equivalent. A technical school may be run much like the community college, as part of a college system, or as a completely separate and privately owned entity.