Ray_li

I'm a Product Design Engineer. Does that count or is it just a title?

Andy S.

So is a toolmaker not an engineer then? if he has not got a degree? I think not! they are possibly the most skilled hands on profession, in the USA they are paid a similar rate to doctors, but in this country are paid a lot less.

I came up through a toolroom but moved on the CADCAM programming for BAe CNC machines on Catia. Now have moved on to Design Engineer for a small design consultancy, that does design work for several large Blue chip companies. I also work part time as the designer for a small racecar constructor. My highest paper qualification is a HND, but experience far outweighs any degree. Be cause i have no degree does that mean I am not an Engineer??

Andy S.

I say yes it does count

PS what do you design?

finalzero

I am a computer engineer... or should that be a computer mechanic?

JonMc

iTrader: (51)

IT technician

ScoobyDoo555

or NERD!!

Dan

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

But it's people like them who have kept me in work for the last 13 years!

That said I have claimed the title Engineer in the past, but I do have a BEng (Hons.)

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

IT Technician = IT Monkey!

Ray_li

Would have to agree that a toolmaker is the most skilled hands on and I would class a toolmaker an Engineer.

I did a degree in Industrial Product Design (2002) then got my first job designing speen cameras (6 months). moved on to designing fittings and fixtures (bass hardware for 2.5 years) and now I'm designing Indutrial amd Medical castors Sounds a boring but its all part of a good foundation in industry.

I call myself a Designer more than an Engineer

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

I think the term "engineer" is used to cover a broad spectrum of jobs, ok some may be technicians, but do you get a service technician or a service engineer?

Some people say you need a degree to be an engineer, no that I cannot agree with, an apprentice could be an engineer without getting a degree but to a "lesser" standard, realistically an engineer (for the term that is being used here, in engineering) should be able to develope a viable product from paper to manufacture, even if its a tool, though the degrees of "skill" between a tool maker for instance and a person who can develope a warship will differ considerably.

Tony

KiwiGTI

You certainly don't need a degree to be a chartered engineer. You can also obtain it based on work experience.

Kuohu

Does the title really matter that much? Surely it's the amount of money in your pay packet that counts.

Nick
(Design Engineer)

Ray_li

What do you design?

Scott.T

iTrader: (2)

My title at work is a Systems Engineer, but according to this petition am I really ?????

I don't hold a degree and I'm certainly not a member of an institution (unlike some on here).

I studied for 1 year full time at the E.I.T.B (Engineer Industry training Board)
Then went on to attain an ONC and HNC in Electronic Engineer and an HNC in Computing.
All while in full time employment at an Avionics Engineering company working on the electronic systems of Eurofighter, Tornado and Harrier aircraft.

I have continued to work at the same company now for 20 years…am I still a technician……I leave you to decide.

PeteBrant

There is a difference between a PCB Design Engineer and a draftsman. Typically a draftsman will have been fed all the information and he/she simply draws according to a strict plan - There is no decision making as such involved.

A PCB Design Engineer will design a PCB to satisfy a number of criteria.

(i)The Electronic Designer - Does the circuit actually work? Are there issues of cross talk? Parrallelism, signal termination? reference planes? star points? Power requirements - High voltage, creepage and clearance etc etc etc

(ii)The product engineer - Can the PCB actually be built through automatic processes. Most Electronic engineers would come out with utter crap from a manufacturing point of view.

As A PCB Design Engineer I need to make sure all parties are happy, where often design and manufacturing are often in direct conflict. I have enough knowledge to take to a schematic from a Electronic Engineer and turn it into a PCB layout without any input from the Desginer - I recognise from the circuit what the designer wants. I can also do this in accordance with manufacturing rules, because I know what is and is not possible.

To this end, I am not a drafsmans, I am an Engineer, and paid accordingly.

asbo-on-wheels

Its Draughtsman! (Draftsman is the american spelling).

A Draughtsman was as professional a status as an Engineer in the days of manual draughting but since the introduction of CAD the 'skill' of penmanship is rapidly dissapearing, so leaving this job less respected. Similarly, the same can be said of pcb layout design through the use of specialised CAD packages. Also since the achievements of engineers are not so obvious as they were in the past to the general public, their respect has fallen. I am sure the designers know who they are and feel a sense of satisfaction when it is due.

BTW With some of the spelling errors on this thread it hardly shouts out 'professional'.

Ray_li

a draughtsman does not need engineering knowledge to make changes to a drawing. An Engineer can sketch the changes over an original drawing and tell a draugthsman to make changes.

I've meet doormen that uses AutoCAD that know jack about the detail

coolcookie

I have a PhD in Mechanical Engineering but that does not make me an Engineer. That respected title should be reserved for Chartered Engineers, IMHO. Cheers All

AudiLover

haha Im an engineer

Quatto

If you don't wear a boiler suit, your not an engineer. LOL By definition, the term is wishy-washy

However what I would like to see is firms and PR departments prevented from excessively dressing up job titles to make their employees seem more professional than what they are. With more effort from the government to get companies to toe the line, giving a set standard for job titles that can easily differentiate between a low level worker and a qualified professional (be it from qualifications or experience, preferably the latter).

Fancy letters after a name are always nice, but they show nothing on a person's professional experience. And there is no real system that can currently differentiate between someone who has vast knowlege and experience and one who knows nothing. And in current business climates, there are plenty of the latter: incompetent people with very nice job titles and even some letters after their name, but come to the cruch they don't deliver and end up being be carried, costing our economy billions (dare I mention middle management? LOL).

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Look, us people with engineering degrees in manufacturing disciplines already know we're underpaid and undervalued, joining the IEEE isn't going to make you feel better!

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Another misused term from the engineering arena is workshop.

Comper100

So agree with the above comment too

Signed

silent running

What about the status of a professional then? Nowadays just about everyone who earns a living thinks that makes them a professional. Yet a true professional is qualified to do their job by virtue of their university education. Without that qualification, and that time and effort that they put in - unpaid - and nowadays mostly racking up debt the whole way through, they are not a professional.

I would firmly say that you are not an engineer unless you are degree-qualified in that field. Maintaining the status of these kind of jobs is essential for quality control. I don't want a doctor operating on me who didn't do seven years at university or whatever it is. I don't want an architect designing my house who studied part-time at night school. I don't want a solicitor to represent me who started as a tyipst and did on-the-job training. And I want my son's teacher to have a far greater level of education than the majority of the public. At the moment all these things are set down in stone and that's as it should be. And so should engineers be expected to be degree-qualified at least otherwise they can't be called engineers.

asbo-on-wheels

Take a look at the Saltash bridge.......it says Isambard Kingdom Brunel - Engineer. I think that sets the bar pretty high for anyone wishing to call themselves Engineer.

Scott.T

iTrader: (2)

Just because you went to university doesn't mean you have a better education/understanding then someone that went to college 1 day a week for 6 years and worked in 'engineering' for the remaining 4 days per week.

In my experience when graduates arrive and you put work in front of them, they don't know squat and after a few months jack in work and bugger off touring the world. On returning they go back into education on a 15 hour per week course.

ru'

Yet again I have to point out the definition of the words we're talking about (at least in the first place I look for these things):


professional - definition of professional by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

pro·fes·sion·al (pr-fsh-nl) adj. 1. a. Of, relating to, engaged in, or suitable for a profession: lawyers, doctors, and other professional people.
b. Conforming to the standards of a profession: professional behavior.

2. Engaging in a given activity as a source of livelihood or as a career: a professional writer.
3. Performed by persons receiving pay: professional football.
4. Having or showing great skill; expert: a professional repair job.

n. 1. A person following a profession, especially a learned profession.
2. One who earns a living in a given or implied occupation: hired a professional to decorate the house.
3. A skilled practitioner; an expert.

asbo-on-wheels

Definition of an Expert - 'Ex' as in has-been and 'Spurt' as in a drip under pressure!

Man outstanding in his field........a farmer!!

How many times has a Draughtsman had to quote specification 'MLFD 41' to an 'engineer'?

Ray_li

are you a draftsman?