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What is an engineer?

T

txrandom

Diamond Member
I'm a computer science major in the college of engineering. I don't believe I'm an engineer, so I usually say, "I'm computer science but in the engineering college."

The reason I ask is because some people at work call themselves network engineers but none of them went to a four year university for engineering or even have CCNAs.

Do you get bothered when non-engineers use the title "xxx engineer"?

What about computer scientists who called themselves engineers?
 
i'm an engineer. ABET accredited BSEE and passed the FE. i can take the PE in 3 years.

and i do get pissed when people throw the word engineer around.
 
I've always thought of an engineer as someone with the right mix of science and know-how to get enormously more real stuff done than either plain scientists or mere handymen. I dunno what certifications that takes, though.
 
Originally posted by: Aharami
you're not an engineer unless you have a PE cert
Click to expand...

So all the aerospace engineers that design spacecraft and airplanes aren't engineers? PEs are worthless in most engineering fields.

I vote that an engineer (by education) is someone who has an ABET-accredited engineering degree.
 
Originally posted by: Aharami
you're not an engineer unless you have a PE cert
Click to expand...

??? So all those people who work in electronics and Raytheon are not engineers?

An engineer is a person who takes science to make products to solve real world problems. There are plenty of people out there who did not get an engineering degree, but they end up in that field. As long as they using science to solve those problems, they are engineers. Engineers are not simply people who make products. They have to solve problems.
 
I'm an Engine Engineering Engineer. How do you like them apples? 😛

Your post smacks of disdain and elitism but in this forum guys like you are the majority. A bunch of math geeks that think b/c they have a 4-year degree (or will have soon) that they're better than the rest of the world.

AFAIC, anyone who can efficiently and productively accomplish their job can call themselves anything they want. Obviously, membership in professional organizations (Society of Mechanical Engineers, for example) requires a real Engineering degree...that goes w/o saying.

If the guy at work who calls himself "Network Engineer" really knows his stuff and can fix anything that breaks, who cares what he calls himself?
 
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: Aharami
you're not an engineer unless you have a PE cert
Click to expand...

i don't agree with this. i know a lot of excellent engineers who don't have a PE.
Click to expand...

yea that's very true. You can do all the things a PE does (if not better) but unless you can sign off on it like a PE can, you're not really the engineer on the project

edit: Im not an engineer. I went to an engineering school and studied comp engineering, but do software development, and choose not to call myself a software engineer. And I agree that in certain fields, PEs are worthless. So i guess I stand corrected. Aerospace engineers working at NASA are certainly engineers. People doing chip design in Intel are certainly engineers. So I guess I edit my original statement that only in certain fields, you're not an engineer unless you have a PE cert
 
Originally posted by: MichaelD
I'm an Engine Engineering Engineer. How do you like them apples? 😛

Your post smacks of disdain and elitism but in this forum guys like you are the majority. A bunch of math geeks that think b/c they have a 4-year degree (or will have soon) that they're better than the rest of the world.

AFAIC, anyone who can efficiently and productively accomplish their job can call themselves anything they want. Obviously, membership in professional organizations (Society of Mechanical Engineers, for example) requires a real Engineering degree...that goes w/o saying.

If the guy at work who calls himself "Network Engineer" really knows his stuff and can fix anything that breaks, who cares what he calls himself?
Click to expand...

because the network engineer didn't have to go through the same curriculum as a real engineer.
 
Originally posted by: Aharami
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: Aharami
you're not an engineer unless you have a PE cert
Click to expand...

i don't agree with this. i know a lot of excellent engineers who don't have a PE.
Click to expand...

yea that's very true. You can do all the things a PE does (if not better) but unless you can sign off on it like a PE can, you're not really the engineer on the project
Click to expand...

And to think, a bunch of frauds designed all of my electronic devices. Those shysters!
 
Originally posted by: Aharami
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: Aharami
you're not an engineer unless you have a PE cert
Click to expand...

i don't agree with this. i know a lot of excellent engineers who don't have a PE.
Click to expand...

yea that's very true. You can do all the things a PE does (if not better) but unless you can sign off on it like a PE can, you're not really the engineer on the project
Click to expand...

That's a good thing...if shit goes wrong and you designed it, you are no liable😉
 
depends on the context.

by and large, I'm willing to use the broad definition ("An engineer is a skilled technical professional. Engineers are concerned with developing economical and safe solutions to practical problems, by applying mathematics and scientific knowledge while considering technical constraints" per wiki) unless specifically referring to an engineer-engineer (EE's and the like)
 
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: MichaelD
I'm an Engine Engineering Engineer. How do you like them apples? 😛

Your post smacks of disdain and elitism but in this forum guys like you are the majority. A bunch of math geeks that think b/c they have a 4-year degree (or will have soon) that they're better than the rest of the world.

AFAIC, anyone who can efficiently and productively accomplish their job can call themselves anything they want. Obviously, membership in professional organizations (Society of Mechanical Engineers, for example) requires a real Engineering degree...that goes w/o saying.

If the guy at work who calls himself "Network Engineer" really knows his stuff and can fix anything that breaks, who cares what he calls himself?
Click to expand...

because the network engineer didn't have to go through the same curriculum as a real engineer.
Click to expand...

The person with the CCNA does not necessarily know more than the person without. True; he has "that piece of paper" that may be the deciding factor in a job selection but it doesn't mean the certified guy is better at the job.
 
if you've taken 3 level calculus, know when and how to use differential equations, and apply that knowledge to your work. I would say you are an engineer 🙂. That catagory might swallow up some physisists, but I view them as basically engineers anyways.

<- studying to be a computer engineer.
 
Originally posted by: Gibson486
Originally posted by: Aharami
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: Aharami
you're not an engineer unless you have a PE cert
Click to expand...

i don't agree with this. i know a lot of excellent engineers who don't have a PE.
Click to expand...

yea that's very true. You can do all the things a PE does (if not better) but unless you can sign off on it like a PE can, you're not really the engineer on the project
Click to expand...

That's a good thing...if shit goes wrong and you designed it, you are no liable😉
Click to expand...

isnt liability the only reason why PEs get paid more even though they might do the same exact thing as non-PEs?
 
Originally posted by: Aharami
Originally posted by: Gibson486
Originally posted by: Aharami
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: Aharami
you're not an engineer unless you have a PE cert
Click to expand...

i don't agree with this. i know a lot of excellent engineers who don't have a PE.
Click to expand...

yea that's very true. You can do all the things a PE does (if not better) but unless you can sign off on it like a PE can, you're not really the engineer on the project
Click to expand...

That's a good thing...if shit goes wrong and you designed it, you are no liable😉
Click to expand...

isnt liability the only reason why PEs get paid more even though they might do the same exact thing as non-PEs?
Click to expand...

yes...plus, when you do public jobs, you need to have a PE sign off. If you just let some random engineer do it and something goes wrong, it not only makes you look bad, but it can mean trouble for the company (like not being able to do public jobs at all)
 
Well, a Combat Engineer (such as myself) uses a mine detector to find enemy caches of weapons, and bomb making materials. Then we get to blow stuff it up. Or use several explosive charges to breach a building/room or anything else. For starters.
 
Originally posted by: Ackmed
Well, a Combat Engineer (such as myself) uses a mine detector to find enemy caches of weapons, and bomb making materials. Then we get to blow stuff it up. Or use several explosive charges to breach a building/room or anything else. For starters.
Click to expand...

there is no such thing as a combat engineer. they do not offer PEs in combat engineering.
 
What about all those tech school grads in engineering technology. They all like to call themselves engineers.
 
Originally posted by: Aharami
you're not an engineer unless you have a PE cert
Click to expand...

Don't be a troll.

Someone like me, who is a professor of electrical engineering, specializing in semiconductor devices, has no need for a PE. So I'm not an engineer? :roll:

If I was designing a sewer system for a city, then I'd probably need the PE for that type of work. Does that make that person an engineer? 😕
 
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