> Some companies never let mechanical designers into the R&D lab to make prototypes and instead have a dedicated staff that only does that.

I want to second this.

I went into MechE specifically to be a MechE that also gets to do hands on portions in machine design. Unfortunately, as a young teenager with this goal in mind, nobody told me this is a very rare thing - especially for fresh out of college positions.

Very small niche, you’ll have to search far and wide to find a decent job as a MechE that also lets you touch the things you’ve applied your MechE to.