The Argumentative Engineer

Edwards Finance > General Engineering

Q. 'Engineer', is a word that appears to defy an exact description, no matter what the dictionary may say. There is something unsatisfactory about it. The widespread use of this term in the UK today owes much to the 'legal' status accorded the profession under the aegis of the Engineering Council, the governing body for the UK's 50 plus engineering institutions. These are in fact the accrediting authorities for the UK's engineers. Engineers in the UK today will typically have gained an honours degree in an engineering or science based discipline, and more and more it is veering towards a Masters degree as the backbone qualification for Chartered Membership of an institution. The degree will generally be regarded as the 'kit of tools' that he/she will employ in the pursuit of the profession, and it is incumbent on aspiring Engineers to undertake another 5 years or so of accredited professional experience, training and review to acquire the title Chartered Engineer. Increasingly Britain's Engineers are also registering with the European FEANI body, enabling a recent status of European or Euro-Engineer. Such a person will be the proud bearer of this unwieldy combination, For example Eur.Ing. Joe Bloggs C.Eng, B.Eng. (Hons), MICE It is regrettably true, that many of our younger Engineers have employed the word Designer, almost interchangeably with Engineer. This is a fundamental lack of understanding of the roles involved. Can a Power Station Manager, almost exclusively an Engineer be termed a 'Designer'.No. A young Structural Engineer will speak of 'Designing' a Beam, when all he has done is checked the deflection in a given design scenario. Is this role 'design'.No. The Engineering Profession, as a whole has still to get to grips with its own agenda and provide roles and routes that match the needs of society, but this is a general conversation. Despite these titles, designations and acronyms, Engineering in Scotland is in 'Meltdown'. Only two generations ago when Scotland was constructing ships, railway engines and huge structures, the principal designer of these artefacts was referred to simply as The Chief Draughtsman and his team of Designers were Draughtsmen. This carried with it the comforting knowledge that the people so designated actually knew what they were doing and an entire 'race' of people were routinely referred to as Engineers. I do not believe that the ten-fold increase in University graduates over 50 years is necessarily evidence of a better educated population. It is already true that an Ordinary Degree is perceived as 'failure' at worst and 'mediocrity' at best. Soon, the Honours Degree will become the 'Technician's Degree', leaving, for a time the M.Eng as 'Professional's Degree'. Diplomas and Certificates are already finding their way into the trash can. Why has this happened.?? It is because graduates are now pouring out of the universities in droves. Today, many graduates in the engineering industry are carrying out the role of Draughtsman in the industry and are on a collision course with career disappointment as the exaggerated expectations are stoked up by the 'Education Industry' of the UK. In almost every profession Scotland has wall-to-wall graduates and few educationalists have the courage to tell them they are going nowhere. The new Call Centres, for example, are positively awash with useless degrees. Are they 'better educated' than yesteryear?.

A.

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