The engineering appreciation thread

[ajgoodfellow]

As an engineer and am part qualified (half way through) to become a chartered engineer, I dont agree with his definition of being called an engineer only when you have achieved chartered status.

I think there should be a minimum standard of education that is accredited like the IET guidelines say and that should be enough.

Having a title of chartered engineer of which you have to pay for to retain the title is just BS which was why I decided to give up on it.

You might think that but not having it will severly limit your career choices later on

It's stupid to have to pay to keep it, I admit, but you are supporting the IET which is a good thing. To get the status requires a fair bit of work too

 

[SpeedFreak]

Well, I'm a Pyhysicist so it's against my very nature to appreciate engineers so to the lot of you

 

[Magister]

Without engineers we'd have no sentry guns or ammo dispensers, and then where would we be? With our flags in other people's bases that's where.

/salute engies

 

[Jonesiani]

Im doing a HNC in mechannical Engineering. When i see some of the engineers in our machine shop at work, it's frustrating that some people don't recognise how skilled they are.

 

[Pumpkinstew]

Well, I'm a Pyhysicist so it's against my very nature to appreciate engineers so to the lot of you

Steady on. I'm a physicist too and I'd be pretty stuck without my tame engineer to design and precision machine some of the bespoke test equipment I use.

Now chemists on the other hand.....

 

[Dave]

Well, I'm a Pyhysicist so it's against my very nature to appreciate engineers so to the lot of you

Bah, I have physics friends who appreciate me as an engineer. Taught him some fluid mechanics the other day he couldn't do

 

[Ricochet J]

Now chemists on the other hand.....

Isn't Engineering, well, I mean the proper mechanical, civil, aeronautical, motorsport beefy ones physics anyway?

Oh and don't engineers and physicists hate chemists because they think they're so smart? All that knowledge and they couldn't discover radiation!

 

[Bear]

You might think that but not having it will severly limit your career choices later on

It's stupid to have to pay to keep it, I admit, but you are supporting the IET which is a good thing. To get the status requires a fair bit of work too

I dont believe it makes much difference at all. I know some very well known engineers in the industry (RF) and they could get jobs at most places without being chartered.

It takes a minimum of 4 years IIRC to get chartered and its unbelievably boring. As I said, Ive done two years of it and I cant be bothered with it any more.

 

[Ricochet J]

Oh, i'll quote my Physics teacher, who, incidentally has an Electronic Engineering degree:

"Physicists use money to make ideas. Engineers use ideas to make money."

Sounds just about right! Although engineers do come out with a hell of a lot of ideas too!

 

[MrWhippy]

whilst i empathize to some extent with the OPs point (i can see why it could be a tad annoying), it's a battle that has been lost already.

straight out of my copy of the Oxford English Dictionary:

   engineer n. 1 a person qualified in engineering.
               2 a person who maintains or controls an engine or machine.
   ...

and it's got to be said, it's a bit of an elitist argument anyway, engineers who want people to know they're something special.

generally, you got the qualifications, you got the job, you got the salary. why do you care about other people not elevating you to a high position in their eyes.

that wasn't aimed at anyone in particular, and yes, i am an engineer of the very well qualified variety.

 

[Raymond Lin]

I wholeheartedly agree with this, like Solicitor, Barrister, Architect ... etc. Engineer should be a statute protected title, the ICE is older than the RIBA, don't know why it isn't protected.

 

[Peter Diffey]

Peter Diffey supports this, Peter Diffey posted a thread pimping the same petition a few months back but got severly burned for it

 

[Ricochet J]

I wholeheartedly agree with this, like Solicitor, Barrister, Architect ... etc. Engineer should be a statute protected title, the ICE is older than the RIBA, don't know why it isn't protected.

You don't get micky mouse architects is the difference. You get technical help engineer, but you don't get technical help architect. You get a "engineer" to sort out your plumbing, but you don't get an "architect" to sort out your plumbing.

Bloody racist if you ask me

 

[sniffy]

Signed.

I do electronic engineering at AS level. True engineers are seriously talented individuals. The difference between designing a system and fixing a faulty system are two very, very different things. The former takes years of work from intelligent individuals. The latter usually requires a few weeks of experience from a person of average intelligence. You can see where the resentment stems from.

I won't be doing electronics past A level because I'm simply not intelligent enough so I've got respect for individuals whom are intelligent enough so I think they deserve a lot more credit than they currently receive.

 

[MrWhippy]

Because the profession needs more recognition rather than diluted with tech jobs. This in turn dilutes the industry with larger numbers and percieved as lower skilled. This effects my salary. Therefore it has a huge effect on my lifestyle.

i'd tend to argue the problem here is more to do with the professional bodies who are supposed to represent and promote the interests of their professional members watering down their ranks with just about anyone willing to pay the subscription.

which would be the main reason i let my membership of the BCS and IEE lapse.
just not worth the money anymore, might as well just join Unison. still get a diary and the fees are way lower.

 

[Beansprout]

I suffer the same. But I'm not an engineer, I'm a computer *scientist*. Though I suppose I could also be a network engineer, in time - but not yet

"What course are you doing?"
"Computing" (never bother giving the full title)
"Kool, is that like Excel and stuff?"

"..."

 

[Naffa]

Could somebody just answer this query I have quickly please?

My parents have a friend that is an engineer. At the moment he's restoring a vintage motorcycle, and he's designed and built a bench/crane type thing. It allows him to manuver the motorcylce to an adequete position, to allow him to work on it easily. Would building something like that be the work of a 'real' engineer, or would the 'real' engineer be the person that creates the tools and materials for the bench/crane to be built?

 

[Psyk]

I suffer the same. But I'm not an engineer, I'm a computer *scientist*. Though I suppose I could also be a network engineer, in time - but not yet

I do computer science in the faculty of engineering. Is it science or is it engineering? I'd say it's more engineering than science.

 

[SpeedFreak]

My thinking on the matter goes like this:

Physicist designs the shape of an efficient wing
Aeronautical Engineer designs it so that it won't fall apart in flight
Physicist and Engineer test and anylyse the equipment and liase on a redesign

Was only joking about Engineers earlier by the way, there was always friendly rivalry between me and my engineering mates at uni. (I was always right though )

 

[Jonnycoupe]

My thinking on the matter goes like this:

Physicist designs the shape of an efficient wing
Aeronautical Engineer designs it so that it won't fall apart in flight
Physicist and Engineer test and anylyse the equipment and liase on a redesign

All 3 of those of covered by Engineering IME. With the engineer aware of the flight envelope, manufacturing and high lift devices its more a real design for the wing, the physicist will design an optimal wing in theory but it will be an engineer who makes it happen through understanding of materials and manufacturing processes.

Just out of interest how much fluid mechanics and thermofluids is covered on a typical physics course?