Engineers/Engineering

KaHn

KaHn

KaHn

Soldato
Joined
13 Oct 2004
Posts
13,177
Location
South Shields
Right,

Just a quick question, we have a lot of people doing IT support, plumbers, technicians etc and I would like to ask.

How many of you are called an engineer? And what job/qualifications do you have?

Seen it a few times on this forum that people will say they are an IT support engineer or something like that and was just wondering the whole numbers of it. I know we have a few proper engineers as well.

Also as a whole do you think the term "engineer" is thrown around too much in non-related industry?

Personally it doesnt bother me on a day to day basis if support monkeys want to call themselves engineers but seems to be happening more and more recently.

KaHn
 
I assume you're trolling as this comes up every 3 months or so with predictably hilarious insults thrown by both (and there are really only two) sides battling it out whilst everyone else wonders what all the fuss was about.

e : glossed over this troll-defining gem :

Personally it doesnt bother me on a day to day basis if support monkeys want to call themselves engineers but seems to be happening more and more recently.
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C'mon man, at least put some effort in.

e2 : And you know what? Outside of the circle-jerk of engineering, no one actually cares. Really :)
 
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I have an Engineering degree and have been in an IT job with the engineer in the title, but that was definitely not an engineering job
 
I am not an engineer and never will be yet I care.

A proper engineer is A highly skilled occupation. Engineers design things. Engineering is hard. Not everyone can do it.

Fixing a pc is not engineering. Connecting telephone cables and installing virgin media is Not engineering.

If you don't qualify for chartered status then in my opinion you are not an engineer.

You are right that most don't care and this is A crying shame. People should care. We should respect engineers not dilute them by pretending technicians and fitters are the same.
 
Fox is bang on with this one.

The amount of pretentious IT 'engineers' I have met over the years that have boasted how they are an an IT 'engineer' has annoyed me every single time.
 
[TW]Fox;20462312 said:
I am not an engineer and never will be yet I care.

A proper engineer is A highly skilled occupation. Engineers design things. Engineering is hard. Not everyone can do it.

Fixing a pc is not engineering. Connecting telephone cables and installing virgin media is Not engineering.

If you don't qualify for chartered status then in my opinion you are not an engineer.

You are right that most don't care and this is A crying shame. People should care. We should respect engineers not dilute them by pretending technicians and fitters are the same.
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I knew you would post as you often have in the past when this comes up and your message is constant which I admire.

Not sure I have too much empathy for the OP, though, who is clearly looking for bait, certainly given the forum he's decided to post on.
 
[FnG]magnolia;20462239 said:
e2 : And you know what? Outside of the circle-jerk of engineering, no one actually cares. Really :)
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See, therein lies the problem.

In the rest of europe, the word 'ingenieur' or 'ingenjör' and its variants has their root in the word 'ingenious':

in·gen·ious /inˈjēnyəs/
Adjective:
(of a person) Clever, original, and inventive.
(of a machine or idea) Cleverly and originally devised and well suited to its purpose.

In this country we use engineer, which is a similar word but had also been applied as 'engine' to a host of machinery, meaning anyone working with machinery appears to have become an engineer, too.

While this may not matter so much - people in general don't seem to understand that those people who build bridges, buildings, design cars, design their favourite gadgets, pretty much invent anything in this world is called an engineer.

Somehow in France and Germany, an engineer is a professional, with prestige and a high standing in society - here in the UK a principal engineer struggles to get a mortgage even if they are running multi-million £ projects, and they are paid barely as much as a warehouse middle-manager on their first rung up the ladder.

It makes me sad. I'm not an engineer any more.
 
As a 'proper' engineer I'd like there to be more protection over the title, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

I'd rather the guy who comes to fit my sky didn't have the title 'engineer', but hey ho life's too short to get wound up by these things.
 
I did an engineering apprenticeship HNC and then HND, but currently work as an IT Technician.

I suppose I could call myself an IT Engineer if I fancied it.
 
Dinomania said:
See, therein lies the problem.

In the rest of europe, the word 'ingenieur' or 'ingenjör' and its variants has their root in the word 'ingenious':

in·gen·ious /inˈjēnyəs/
Adjective:
(of a person) Clever, original, and inventive.
(of a machine or idea) Cleverly and originally devised and well suited to its purpose.

In this country we use engineer, which is a similar word but had also been applied as 'engine' to a host of machinery, meaning anyone working with machinery appears to have become an engineer, too.

While this may not matter so much - people in general don't seem to understand that those people who build bridges, buildings, design cars, design their favourite gadgets, pretty much invent anything in this world is called an engineer.

Somehow in France and Germany, an engineer is a professional, with prestige and a high standing in society - here in the UK a principal engineer struggles to get a mortgage even if they are running multi-million £ projects, and they are paid barely as much as a warehouse middle-manager on their first rung up the ladder.

It makes me sad. I'm not an engineer any more.
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Yeah, in Germany engineers are up there with lawyers and doctors as full on professionals and it's not unusual for their qualifications/titles to be on letters etc.

When my Mum told my German relatives that I had graduated with a masters in engineering they were very impressed.

But at the end of the day all that really matters is what people think within your industry/sector, not point in getting working up about what the average joe in the street thinks.
 
I am Development Engineer, thoe my work title is "Production and Development Manager".
I started off as a toolmaker working with lathes and Mills, manual and CNC, this is proper engineering and i do miss it :p
I now design/modify our products using Solidworks which is a 3d cad package and i am also in charge of production
 
Dinomania said:
See, therein lies the problem.

In the rest of europe, the word 'ingenieur' or 'ingenjör' and its variants has their root in the word 'ingenious':

in·gen·ious /inˈjēnyəs/
Adjective:
(of a person) Clever, original, and inventive.
(of a machine or idea) Cleverly and originally devised and well suited to its purpose.

In this country we use engineer, which is a similar word but had also been applied as 'engine' to a host of machinery, meaning anyone working with machinery appears to have become an engineer, too.

While this may not matter so much - people in general don't seem to understand that those people who build bridges, buildings, design cars, design their favourite gadgets, pretty much invent anything in this world is called an engineer.

Somehow in France and Germany, an engineer is a professional, with prestige and a high standing in society - here in the UK a principal engineer struggles to get a mortgage even if they are running multi-million £ projects, and they are paid barely as much as a warehouse middle-manager on their first rung up the ladder.

It makes me sad. I'm not an engineer any more.
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Look, you can apply this to many, many professions and as soon as you get too far out of that circle the interest in the title/label becomes almost meaningless.

Engineers do great stuff, I don't think you'll find too many people saying otherwise. The label itself is probably (certainly) used incorrectly - again, not too many people would argue otherwise.

But do we, people who are not engineers, care? No. A guy does a thing. And you can dress this up as "oh but it's not proper engineering!" or "but he's only a phone engineer!" but to the people who are receiving the benefit of what the guy is doing, it's irrelevant.

I think it's really important for professions and professionals to not forget what they're employed to do. As soon as you hit the "but I'm better than you" button then you do yourself a massive disservice.
 
[FnG]magnolia;20462358 said:
Not sure I have too much empathy for the OP, though, who is clearly looking for bait, certainly given the forum he's decided to post on.
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It wasn't a bait post as such, more wanting to see who one here actually calls themselves an engineer and what position they hold. The comments afterwards convey my thoughts on the subject and you jumped on them as bait.

I've stated my opinion on this subject many times but as a general I don't post in SC and unless there is an engineering sub forum I am yet to see I'll post most of my threads in GD.

KaHn
 
undergrad, 2nd year into my masters in Mech eng at bath. People in this country don't respect engineers, nor know what they do. When i say I'm doing a mechanical engineering degree people often think "mechanic". I think the profession as a whole is hugely undervalued, and as Dinomania says engineers on average aren't paid enough for what they do in this country.- The best I can hope for my career is that I spend 5-10 years in pure engineering, then go into a project managing/commercial role, simply because in general the salary isn't worth it for the rigour of the subject.
 
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I don't consider anyone an engineer unless qualified with a BEng or higher, including myself, hence referring to myself as a scientist. I have 'research engineer' as my job title but I'm not technically an engineer.
 
[FnG]magnolia;20462451 said:
But do we, people who are not engineers, care? No. A guy does a thing. And you can dress this up as "oh but it's not proper engineering!" or "but he's only a phone engineer!" but to the people who are receiving the benefit of what the guy is doing, it's irrelevant.
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Go to Germany/Frane and have the same opinon, the title there is protected as is Doctor here.

Would you goto a X Ray Operator or and Orderly for medical consult?

KaHn
 
Designer in a Subsea engineering firm. Apprenticeship and A levels, no degree.

Wouldn't call myself an engineer, we have quite a few and there is a distinct difference in our skill levels and job roles.

Does make me laugh when every profession has engineers (with no accreditation) but as mentioned it's usually the company assigned role, not a personal preference.

Most people i work with share a chuckle about the washing machine engineer coming round, but doesn't seem to cause much of a stink,
 
KaHn said:
It wasn't a bait post as such, more wanting to see who one here actually calls themselves an engineer and what position they hold. The comments afterwards convey my thoughts on the subject and you jumped on them as bait.

I've stated my opinion on this subject many times but as a general I don't post in SC and unless there is an engineering sub forum I am yet to see I'll post most of my threads in GD.

KaHn
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You've posted this before and for the same reasons. It's trolling. I should probably also state that it doesn't involve me in any way and if you engineers want to do this thing again then I guess that's fine.

KaHn said:
Go to Germany/Frane and have the same opinon, the title there is protected as is Doctor here.

Would you goto a X Ray Operator or and Orderly for medical consult?

KaHn
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That two different countries 'protect' a title means little to me. Do you live in either of them?
 
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