Ok, my brother in Arizona has a birthday today! I need something I can get delivered to him TODAY that would be fun? Any suggestions?
I’m at a loss for what to do…maybe dinner at his favorite restaurant on me…have the gift cert. waiting…Hmmmm Any suggestions?
George Costanza has me all confused on this. Engineers build bridges, right? Or is it architects? Anyway, does he have an SO who can find a bridge building kit at a local toy store today?
Well, It is the wrong type of engineer, but this is a great book The art of Lionel
This book:
Flowers:
MrPict is an Engineer and he loves it when I send him flowers when he is working out of town. I would suggest Antheriums (those are the little boy flowers they have in Hawaii). Most guys never get flowers. I sent them to my Dad who was a construction worker and he actually got teary cause no one had ever sent him flowers before 
Machu Picchu: A Civil Engineering Marvel is another great book, especially if he’s a civil (or civil-related) engineer. It would be tough to get to him today, though.
I don’t know about the flowers - I think I’d rather have something I can take apart. And there’s a huge difference between getting flowers from my girlfriend and getting flowers from my brother, too. That would just be… well, weird.
This thread is better suited for IMHO. I’ll move it for you.
Cajun Man
for the SDMB
LEGO maybe (LEGO MindStorm is he’s an EE).
That or books. I mean who doesn’t love books?
Video games. Every engineer plays computer games.
How about a 3D puzzle? Most toy or game stores have a good collection, as to puzzle catalogs (which are also on-line) like Bits & Pieces. I’m an engineer and I love them.
What kind of engineer? They come in different flavours, don’t cha know.
I second Lego Technics(now Mindstorms?) range.
Anything gadgety or in a kitset is generally well appreciated.
So don’t keep us in suspense…What did you get him?
Any construction-style toy will do. Preferably one he hasn’t heard of before. You can still get vintage Erector Sets, by the way. K’Nex is good. But you want something local and off-the-shelf. Go to your local toy store and see what they have. If there’s a “science”-type toy store nearby, so much the better. They’re more likely to have something. Or a Museum gift shop.
He’s a nuclear engineer, currently working in fluid dynamics for the Arizona Canal Projects…I ended up with a gift certificate to his favorite book store, but Cal I am buying him the K’Nex Baja Desert Racer and over nighting it! Great Idea for the erector set!
A fellow engineer, we are (typ.) naturally curious in other branches of engineering outside our specific niche. There is an excellent book about the engineering, design, and construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. Or, there are similar books on other such marvels - the trials, tribulations, and triumphs. Similarly, I have found fascinating books, often with cut-away drawings, of various war planes and ships at my local bookstore. This may be of interest, as well. - Jinx
Gift certificates to science stores are a good place to start. Personally, tho’, if I were asked to pick a gift for an engineer, regardless of type, I think I’d try to find one of those hats they let the people who drive trains wear 
bamf
Forget everything else. Get him a Klein bottle (http://www.kleinbottle.com/). It’s worth the wait.
When I was in college studying engineering, my roommate got a really neat present for Christmas. His father gave him a slide rule that his granddad had brought back from Germany after WWII. It was about a foot long, in a very nice leather case, with the original instructions. My roommate, fortunately, was fluent in German, and actually figured how to use the thing. He said it made Thermodynamics a breeze, plus it made the instructor do a double-take when he was using on a test.
Someone out there has to still be making slide rules.
It’s depressing that we have come so far so fast. I learned to use a slide rule in high school, and still have my cheap plastic Sterling rules as well as the good aluminum one I bought with $20 I found. Over the years I’ve picked them up, cheap, at garage sales.
You ought to be able to buy them – check the internet. A few years ago the gift shop in the MIT Student Center was still selling them.
You don’y need German booklets – Pickett published a book on it. Heck, Asimov wrote a book on the slide rule. I’ll guarantee you can find out how to use one on the Web.