Controversies over the term Engineer

I passed the EIT exam, worked under professional engineers for four years, and obtained letters of recommendation from them, all so that I had the right to sit for the professional engineering exam. I then took that exam and passed it. I pay $200 per year to maintain my registered professional engineer status in my state. All this gives me the right to stamp legal documents as an engineer ... and be held legally accountable for designs that cause injury to others, either physical or financial. I wear a stainless steel ring on the little finger of my right hand that was given to me to remind me as I sign off on designs, that the safety of others is in my hands.<p>I am allowed to put on my business card, my website, and my consulting advertisements that I am an engineer. Theoretically, you are not, if you haven't done these things, and a case could be made that you should not be able to, just like you don't get to call yourself a doctor or a lawyer.<p>The term engineer has undergone serious deflation over the years, which is a shame. I don't see this trend suddenly reversing, so I don't lose sleep over it, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't feel a little regretful over it's demise.

I use the title "Programmer". I think it's much more accurate than "Software Engineer", which brings to mind a bunch of guys with slide-rules and pocket protectors making a UML diagram for some offshore Java developers to "implement".<p>Remember that Knuth's book is called "The Art of Computer Programming", not "The Art of Software Engineering".

I've learned long ago (before I ever touched a computer) not to give the term "Engineer" too much weight, since it was explained to me that the janitors in my grandfather's office were called "Sanitation Engineers".

A great-grandfather was listed in the 1900 census as a "stationary engineer"; the next two show him as "machinist", and I'm guessing he had not changed trades. I doubt his schooling went beyond about 8th grade, for his father was a farmer in northern Germany.

Controversies like this are, I think, just another indicator of the changing face of careers. Here in NYC web developers are called everything from "software engineers" to "developers" to "coders" to "presentation layer engineers." And that doesn't taken into account the front- vs back-end issue.<p>That being said, I appreciate that many certifications (MCSE, ZCSE) use the term "certified engineer" as, I do believe that the term engineer should qualify someone with a more developer skillset.

I have two engineering degrees (Mechanical and Electrical), but make my living from my startup and web-development consultancy. Needless to say I encounter the misuse of the term engineer quite often and cringe everytime. In fact, one of my good friends started to refer to himself as an Information Engineer, not having any formal degree, and when I asked him about it, he said he hadn't even really given it a thought and changed his title right then and there.<p>I know people don't do it maliciously, and many even do it tongue-in-cheek (e.g. "Sanitation Engineer", "Happiness Engineer", and many others I've encountered). So, like cryptnoob, I don't lose any sleep over it and really don't take it too personally. But I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me. I kind of wish the term "Engineer" were regulated in the US (not just P.E.), but that's life. And I'm sure someone with a Masters in Engineering would be bothered that I can describe myself as an Engineer, having only a couple of B.S.'s.

I like how us "true" engineers in Canada are given an iron ring. It's like we have our own little secret club :)

The article is incomplete. You can't use the title "Engineer" in Texas without a P.E.