So who's an engineer?
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I found this thread a really interesting read. The definition of an engineer in the U.K. seems to be vastly different to over here (Ireland), which I didn't expect. I am currently 4 exams away from getting a B.Eng. in Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering. In all the courses I have done, fabrication has not been heavily involved. We built a couple of robots as part of a team, but it was with simple workshop equipment and tools. A lot of the modules involved ethics, manufacturing operations & methodologies as well as management. We have also done some work on subjects like CAD, CAM, FEA, dynamics, computer programming, numerical approximation and maths.

I also spent 6 months on work placement. I worked with ~50 engineers (people possessing a degree in engineering) with the majority of work focusing on project management, health & safety, maintenance scheduling and some design work. No engineer I worked with had any training or experience in fabrication or using workshop equipment.

Even before I chose to do engineering, I did not expect to have much practical involvement with fabrication. Engineering, to me, is applying logic to create a solution to a specific problem. The subject is so broad that there is always a “learning period” when beginning any job to familiarise yourself with the subject at hand and progress is made from there. I think it is more to do with a problem solving approach and working as part of a team to implement a solution. I don't associate it with being in a "workshop" at all.

I suppose my view of engineering is largely because Ireland has virtually no real fabrication in our industries. Any potential jobs for engineers here are in pharmaceutical, food processing and construction industries.

Anyway, I still don’t think I said what is in my head, but it’s a long post already.

On 12th Nov, 2009 Paul S said:

I think Gary OS has taken over my role as the forum smart arse

I'm staggered by the amount of people on here who seem to think an engineer must be able to fabricate and swing hammers.
They are missing the point completely.

I am an engineer. I've got an NVQ and everything.

The rule of thumb is at my place is, to be an engineer you have to..

Use a lathe or mill and eats lots of doughnuts.

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Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Engineer

I dunno just thought those definitions were interesting especially the parts about the UK. I noticed the word "engineer" getting added to more and more job titles in the 90s.

I got landed with the title "software engineer" right out of uni - I did computer science and digital electronics (although I started uni in electrical engineering) - and didn't like the title much. And spent the next 20 years avoiding the word "engineer" in my job title e.g. software developer, systems architect.

With the UK being mostly unregulated it ended up with all kinds of job title "engineering" going on - I always thought it undervalued real engineers who deserved to be called engineers.

I consider myself to be an engineer in my work maybe 10% of the time. The other 90% is taken up organising, planning, etc.

I'm just a nobody

My official job title is Field Supervisor. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it

Gary's description is best because, Ireland being a proper part of the EU, it is better defined (legally).

I don't think it will be too long before the same applies over here.

So if you're young enough and have the opportunity to go to College or Uni and get a degree, do it......

As I said earlier. I got mine late in life for all the wrong reasons and it made very little difference to my "engineering" ability and although I can use all the workshop tools, my job was 95% project management, budget management, demonstrating compliance on our Inspection Programme and industrial relations with company staff and contract staff.

I really only do the "hands-on" for fun, although I was given all the training earlier in life.

And my current Job Title is "Retired" :)

Edited by Rod S on 30th Apr, 2010.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

Well said Tom! 90% is taken up on paperwork and what ever company quality systems that are in place. Actually proper engineering work is very small.

I must admit, I went through the ranks the hard way. No degree.....just apprenticeship, City & Guilds (When they actually ment something) just kept under someones wing that trained me. Sorting problems out as they arose using common sense and a little education generally paid off. I am biased towards experience rather than degrees in my field.
But then, different areas engineering require different methods. Fabrication is more natural physical abilities, where as nuclear work is more mental abilities.

Its all about having the knack...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmYDgncMhXw&feature=related

Edited by matty on 30th Apr, 2010.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fusion-Fabri..._homepage_panel

www.fusionfabs.co.uk



1/4mile in 13.2sec @ 111 terminal on 15psi

On 30th Apr, 2010 matty said:
Its all about having the knack...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmYDgncMhXw&feature=related

Edited by Lot on 30th Apr, 2010.

Mr. Prawn, the friendly Crustacean- slowly making steps towards forced induction.

I'm a welder / fabricator and i'm studying "engineering" at college...does that count?


You can always tell the engineers cos their spelling is atroushous lol.

We use either the fairly simple TCR 805 stations for earthworks stuff, or on structures work we use a TPS1200 with ATR and a few other features which make it much nicer to use!

Avoiding site paperwork must be a huge bonus!

Mr. Prawn, the friendly Crustacean- slowly making steps towards forced induction.

On 28th Apr, 2010 mini13 said:

"se ne estas rompita, ne ripar ĝi - supercharge ĝi."

Young's Modulus is just the slope of the stress/strain graph. (Y2-Y1)/(X2-X1) with the tensile strength on the Y axis (units of Pa) and strain on the X axis (unitless). The units for Young's Modulus are also Pa

On 12th Nov, 2009 Paul S said:

I think Gary OS has taken over my role as the forum smart arse

"se ne estas rompita, ne ripar ĝi - supercharge ĝi."

So all in all it turns out 62% of the people on here are engineers (according to the poll).

At least it was an easy question and no ambiguity.

I'm glad i asked

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