Engineers/Engineering

Hedge said:
This does bother you lol, You used to bring it up when I was a Gas Engineer and you musta raised it on here a bunch of times :D .

Ya just have a superiority complex, the word Engineer has just become diluted over the years, much to the dislike of you top end folk :)
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It may just be a superority complex (we all feel superior to someone) but does it actually have any real effect? We know engineers get paid less in this country than other western developed nations but is that some ancient bias towards white collar workers or is it just the perception that the title 'engineer' gives.

If the latter then He can rightly say it bothers him, it's costing him thousands of pounds a year, that'd bother anyone!
 
Id be very surprised if it was peoples perception of the word Engineer that would affect the earnings.

If so, then the industry that is full of these well educated folk dont have the ability to change things, kinda making them less forward thinking than they seem :)
 
I'm in the odd position of seeing both sides. I've got a BEng in Automotive Engineering, I started out on a career in Powertrain Development and I used to play along with the whole "Getting annoyed by washing machine fitters calling themselves engineers" thing.

Then I got drawn into IT by accident, my current job is basically desktop support and my job title includes the word "Engineer".

Am I a fake or not? It's too confusing. :p
 
Hedge said:
To be honest I think "Proper" engineers mingle in circles where everyone knows what it is they do, if they dont, then they will take pleasure in telling them.
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Oddly enough when people ask what I do for a living, I usually am confronted with a blank look then I dont bother saying any more. Even my wife doesnt know what I do.
 
Timed served Fitter / Turner then moved onto the title of Toolmaker which consisted of everything from design right through to manufacture, from there I worked briefly in the Aerospace industry before moving once again, this time into high speed canning and bottling where I get called Engineer, Fitter, Technician, Maintenance and some not so polite names. For me the names / titles ceased to mean anything years (and I do mean years) ago whenever they were handed out like confetti to any new job title that someone dreamed up. Bottom line no matter what you are called is simple, job security, well paid and the odd bit of happiness doesn't go a miss :)
 
If you create something, from scratch, that possibly has never been done before... you are an engineer.

Connecting cables, and clicking buttons on software you didn't develop, isn't an engineering role.

I usually say "Software Developer" though to avoid coming across as pretentious and/or offending a real chartered engineer that may be in the room.
 
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mglover070588 said:
I get a bit cheesed off when people call themselves an engineer when they aren't, but as other have mentioned in isn't worth losing sleep over!
I got a 1st clss in manufacturing engineering BEng at Loughborough. Just started doing a PhD in it now (well sustainable manufacturing - Processes in factories is my area).

The best one I have heard is....
Muppet: I got a 1st class in motorsport engineering from Birmingham University.
Me: Cool, BEng or MEng?
Muppet: Bsc
Me: Eh? You said you just graduated in engineering
Muppet: Yeah I got a Bsc in motorsport engineering from Birmingham City
Me: So you got a Bsc from Birmingham City in motorsport technology, not a BEng in motorsport engineering from Birmingham. BIG difference.

The last line I said in my head, not out loud!
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Actually I did BSc(Partly-Acredited) at an ex-poly and a MSc(Topped up to full acredited) russell group. Wasn't that much harder tbh despite popular belief. Very few people go to both, so they can't compare.

Both accredited.
 
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Bear said:
Oddly enough when people ask what I do for a living, I usually am confronted with a blank look then I dont bother saying any more. Even my wife doesnt know what I do.
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What do you do?

Surely any job can be explained in layman's terms.
 
You cant over simplify something if you are telling someone who doesnt understand :)

If someone says "What do you do?", and you say "I am a researcher in String Theory"..

they say "Oh right, I dunno what that is, I assume its complicated?"

you say "Yes, Ill save you the boredom" .

And if they arent happy with that, then they are either keen for you to explain, or they are too retarded to move on. :)
 
UK-AL05 said:
Actually I did BSc(Partly-Acredited) at an ex-poly and a MSc(Topped up to full acredited) russell group. Wasn't that much harder tbh despite popular belief. Very few people go to both, so they can't compare.

Both accredited.
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If there is very little between the two then why is Birmingham at the top of the tables and Birmingham City at the bottom? This isn't talking about which is Russell group and which isn't, it is talking about which ones are worth something to industry and which ones are an embarassment to the word 'engineering'.

Is Birmingham City an ex-poly? I genuinely don't know. I discounted the place straight away as they sent me a prospectus...without me even asking for one. Also the amount of Spotify advertisement for the place means they really must be desperate.

To say the two are almost the same, just isn't believable.
 
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mglover070588 said:
If there is very little between the two then why is Birmingham at the top of the tables and Birmingham City at the bottom? This isn't talking about which is Russell group and which isn't, it is talking about which ones are worth something to industry and which ones are an embarassment to the word 'engineering'.

Is Birmingham City an ex-poly? I genuinely don't know. I discounted the place straight away as they sent me a prospectus...without me even asking for one. Also the amount of Spotify advertisement for the place means they really must be desperate.

To say the two are almost the same, just isn't believable.
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They're externally moderated some what(Content gets checked) to be accredited.

League Tables are usually defined by entry requirements and the current research going on at the university(Which is way russell groups tend to be at the top, due to research funding), not teaching.

I've seen various advertisements for the UoB as well but there usually in print. They also advertise on google ads. UoB used to pop up when you type in computer science degree on google advertisements.
 
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Back in 1974 I began my Engineering Apprenticeship at the Michelin Tyre Company and by 1979 I came out with an HNC and it was drummed into us that we were now Technicians because Engineers were way above us.
Even my Dad who had been there for 25 years in a skilled management capacity had still not gained the Engineer title.
In 1980 I started at Creda/Hotpoint and was amazed at he amount of Engineers on there in white coats.
It was a few months later when I asked a white coat where he studied his engineering and it ended up that they were just titles with no qualifications.
Even though I was a bonafide 'Engineering Technician' I landed a job called Quality Audit Technician with no formal training but really I was a test lab monkey.
The word 'Engineer' does rile me up when used in the wrong place and last Friday I made a phone call about getting my treadmill fixed and the woman said they could get an Engineer out to me.
Aaaaargh.
 
Hedge said:
What do you do?

Surely any job can be explained in layman's terms.
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I used to design components for base stations and mobile repeaters. The concept isnt hard to grasp but either people think its boring or they dont understand what it is and their faces glaze over and I give up.

Currently I design PCBs for escan airborne radar.
 
Hedge said:
You cant over simplify something if you are telling someone who doesnt understand :)

If someone says "What do you do?", and you say "I am a researcher in String Theory"..

they say "Oh right, I dunno what that is, I assume its complicated?"

you say "Yes, Ill save you the boredom" .

And if they arent happy with that, then they are either keen for you to explain, or they are too retarded to move on. :)
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Pretty much my experience in a nutshell.
 
I used to be a lot more bothered about this than I am now. What does bother me a lot these days are people on Linkedin who completely lie about their job and job title. I work with many different people who seem to think they are much more important than they are and give themselves made up titles and throw the words manager, supervisor and specialist round like it means nothing.
FWIW I have a degree in materials engineering but I'm not chartered as I didn't pursue an engineering career, but currently I have been considering a change and getting back into it.
 
[TW]Fox;20470481 said:
Gas fitter.

A Gas engineer would be too expensive to hire and massive overkill for that sort of work.
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I know I was a gas fitter, I was saying it as I know it wound Kahn up, he's been my mate for years and I know it grinds his gears .

I have a grasp on the concept fox, my friends are from many industrys and I know Nick is an engineer and I never have been.
 
This always ends up in an argument :p

I've had a job title stating engineer before.

And seriously, stop with the 'Proper Engineer' stuff, it's getting old.

Yes, it probably gets used more now than before, but hey, if it was that much of an issue there would be a minimum criteria that would have to be met for people to be called 'Engineers'.
 
Delvis said:
Yes, it probably gets used more now than before, but hey, if it was that much of an issue there would be a minimum criteria that would have to be met for people to be called 'Engineers'.
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You mean, like there is in every other western country?

KaHn
 
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