Actually in California, at least, you can’t call yourself any type of Engineer unless you’re licensed. Though (and I’m not an engineer) decry the inappropriate use of the title by garbage collectors and such, I always thought that
if you have a BS in engineering, and are working in the field, you should be able to call yourself one.
But that’s not necessarily the reality of the situation. I think you guys have gotten yourselves into a real quandary with the name issue. You need to have a title to distinguish the highest grade of engineers, the ones with licenses like Anthracite. The problem with the term professional engineer is that it implies that engineers-in-training
are not quite professional. That doesn’t seem quite fair, does it?. Instead of using the term Professional Engineer how about Licentiate in Engineering?
There are tons of programmers out there who do the analysis and design, and develop requirements, as well as implementation, and who don’t have engineering backgrounds. Some do have liberal arts degrees, and a few even have no degree whatsoever. Probably the best programmer of my acquaintance has no college education; he started right after high school. I started after finishing college, having studied something else. The field is full of upstarts and people like me who shoehorned their way in.
To concede a point, though, I don’t think it’s right to use the term programmer to describe someone without relevant education who has just decided to be a programmer, and doesn’t have any substantial experience yet.
Sorry I’m so slow getting back to this thread. One of our trainers was sick so I ended up having to spend the rest of the week in Tucson to cover for him.
Falcon:
::Wringing hands:: Ah, yes. My evil plan worked just as intended.
FairyChatMom:
I was responsible for landing gear layout and configuration on my aircraft design team my senior year. The “challenge” there was trying to figure out where and how to store it with a gun under the fuselage for one type of mission and a fuel tank on the wing for another type of mission. Do you run into issues like that? Probably worse in real life, huh.
pcubed:
No, you don’t understand. I am your friendly neighborhood Applications Engineer. I help you work through your problems and do what I can to make your eigenvalue extraction and participation factor calculations as smooth and efficient as possible.
JuanDeCuba:
Hell, it was a secret to me until I saw the poster in the customers’ lobby!
Geobabe:
Well, of course, you can read anything into it that you want to!
Thanks all for weighing in. I’ve enjoyed reading about your thankless jobs!
I also sent a hug to my all-time favorite engineer. That would be my big brother, Jim, who is one of the two best brothers in the entire world and an all-around very cool guy.
Strainger, you develop a hankering to learn any more geology, you just let me know! Or chat about Brahms, or whatever…
If someone does full lifecycle SW development as you mentioned, but does not have an engineering degree, I wouldn’t call him/her a programmer. Probably software developer is a fair description/title. I think the term “programmer” implies a fairly limited scope.
My sophmore year in college, they asked me what type of engineer I wanted to be. Since I used to be an auto mechanic, I picked mechanical engineering. Figured it would save me some effort in school. Ha.
Work in a refinery. Maintenance type, with a lot of older equipment. Some of it pre-WWII. I like my job, people I work with, our major client, and my boss.
Ran across this site about a month ago. Seemed like an intelligent bunch, so I registered. Hey DZ, where do you jump? There are about 5-10 engineers I know who skydive in the Houston area. But some are programers.
So this is where all the geeks are. Anybody seen my slide rule?
Mechanical engineer by training and even some actual (past) job experience. I did sheet metal packaging for custom AC Plasma displays for military applications for nearly thirteen years. Two of which were spent developing the launch/guidance control panel for the Harpoon missile. I actually got to attend an at-sea test launch of one of those babies after the project was completed.
Did some time as a structural engineer for a consulting firm. I left that place when it became apparent they wanted to station me nearly permanently at the limestone quarry of a client. What a godawful filthy place to work. Hotter and dustier than hell in the summer, colder than a witch’s tit in a brass bra in February in the Yukon in the winter. And did I mention the dust burns?
Now, I’m desiging outside plant for CATV and telecom companies, mostly long-haul (20 to 2000 mile runs) fiber optics. It’s pretty dull.
Actually, my job is to figure out ways to repair landing gear components that are flying longer than originally anticipated. I also get to rewrite the maintenance manuals and evaluate parts to determine whether they should be fixed or scrapped. It’s a living!
In memory of my dad, gone now for nearly 7 years, a marine engineer and owner of a small family company that built hundreds of steel and aluminum boats and barges over its 3-generation, 57 year history. He spent many, many hours over the drafting table “lofting” blueprints.
His classic engineer quote: “How can you talk without a pencil and paper?”
