An engineer
is an engineering professional. Engineers are concerned with developing economical and safe solutions to practical problems, by applying mathematics and scientific knowledge while considering technical constraints [1] [2]. The term is derived from the Latin root "ingenium," meaning "cleverness" [3]. The industrial revolution and continuing technological developments of the last few centuries have changed the connotation of the term slightly, resulting in the perception of engineers as applied scientists. The work of engineers is the link between perceived needs of society and commercial applications.
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ENGINEERS TICKETS
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Regulation
In
Continental Europe and
Latin America and also in
Turkey, the title is limited by law to people with an engineering degree, and the use of the title by others (even persons with much more work experience) is illegal. In
Italy the title is limited to people who, besides holding an engineering degree, have passed a professional qualification examination (
Esame di Stato
). In
Portugal, professional engineer titles and accredited engineering degrees are regulated and certified by the
Ordem dos Engenheiros
. In the
Czech Republic the title "engineer" (Ing.) is given to people with a (master) degree in chemistry, technology or even economics (due to historical reasons and tradition). In
Greece the academic title of "Diploma Engineer" is awarded after completion of the five year engineering study course at the National Technical University of Greece (NTUA) and the title of "Certified Engineer" is awarded to those that have completed the four year course of engineering studies at a Technological Educational Institute (TEI).
Laws exist in the
U.S., in
Canada and in
South Africa that limit the use specific engineer titles, particularly the title of "
Professional Engineer." However, most engineers in the U.S. do not become professional engineers. Titles indicating a specific, regulated branch of engineering, such as "
civil engineer" or "
mechanical engineer" are also regulated. Most U.S. states prohibit unlicensed persons from calling themselves an "engineer" or indicating branches or specialties not covered by the licensing acts. The
IEEE's formal position on this is as follows:
"The title, Engineer, and its derivatives should be reserved for those individuals whose education and experience qualify them to practice in a manner that protects public safety. Strict use of the title serves the interest of both the IEEE-USA and the public by providing a recognized designation by which those qualified to practice engineering may be identified. The education and experience needed for the title, Engineer, is evidenced by
- Graduation with an Engineering degree from an ABET/EAC accredited program of engineering (or equivalent*), coupled with sufficient experience in the field in which the term, Engineer, is used; and/or
- Licensure by any jurisdiction as a Professional Engineer.
- A degree from a foreign institution (or the total education when one person holds a graduate degree in engineering but no accredited B.S. in engineering) can be evaluated through a service offered by ABET."
Despite these laws, many individuals with no formal education in engineering are still often called engineers because of a history of engineering work. Because Canada regulates the use of the titles "engineer" and "engineering" in law the legal situation regarding the use title of "engineer" in Canada is unsettled. (See
Professional Engineer
for more details).
In Ireland, United Kingdom, and Australia, the title of "engineer" is unregulated and is increasingly used to describe trades such as electricians, motor mechanics, gas fitters, TV and washing machine repair people, in addition to those engaged in professional engineering.
The word "
technologist" is sometimes used synonymously as it derives from the prefix
techno-
and the suffix -
ologist, hence, someone who studies technology. This applies particularly to those European countries with laws regulating the use of the title "engineer." A Technologist supports professional engineers in N America. Technologists can become professional engineers with further academic study — usually 2-3 years of an engineering degree. Regulation of the Technologist title is covered by the Sydney Accord. A UK Incorporated Engineer is equivalent to a Technologist as defined by the Sydney Accord. The I.Eng qualification is administered by the Engineering Council of the United Kingdom.
Education, training and skills
People who work as engineers typically have an
academic degree (or equivalent work experience) in one of the
engineering disciplines.
[4]
Engineers must have the
skillset and
methodology to
problem solve, including
soft skills.
- Self motivated.
- Enthusiasm to learn about emerging technologies, hardware, software and applications.
- Logical approach to problem solving and troubleshooting
- Detail oriented.
- Quick thinking.
- Calm under high pressure situations.
- Good oral and written business communications, negotiation and time management skills.
- Leadership skills - organizing and motivating a group of engineers.
- Drawing skills - to draw graphical workflow diagrams or CAD schematic drawings.
- Training and mentoring skills - To train and mentor junior or fellow engineers or operational staff.
North America
United States
In the
United States engineering certification is carried out by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying.
Professional engineers are required to pass a basic Fundamendals of Engineering (FE) examination, complete a specified number of years of working in the field, and then pass a rigorous and thorough Professional Engineering (PE) examination.
ABET is the recognized accreditation authority granting universities that offer education in engineering and technology the right to confer degrees. Degree programs include a
Bachelor's degree in engineering or sciences (4 years), to a
Master's in the same fields (adding 2 or 3 years depending on the university), to a
Doctor of Engineering which entails completing original research.
Doctors often go on to teach in schools of engineering. Some engineering schools have agreements with 2-year colleges whereby the college provides the initial engineering education, and the engineering school automatically admits students for their last 2 years. In addition, a few engineering schools have arrangements that allow students who spend 3 years in a liberal arts college studying pre-engineering subjects and 2 years in an engineering school studying core subjects to receive a bachelor’s degree from each school. Some colleges and universities offer 5-year master’s degree programs. Some 5-year or even 6-year cooperative plans combine classroom study and practical work, permitting students to gain valuable experience and to finance part of their education.
[5]
Canada
In
Canada, there are 40 institutions offering 239 engineering accredited programs delivering a
Bachelor's degree after a term of 4 years. Many schools also offer graduate level degrees in the applied sciences. "Accredited" means that the engineers having successfully followed one of these programs have the possibility to obtain their licences. This specificity of the Canadian system as the engineers need a licence to engage in the profession. Some of the schools include:
University of Toronto,
McMaster University,
University of British Columbia,
University of Waterloo,
McGill University,
Dalhousie University,
Ryerson University,
University of Alberta,
Carleton University,
University of Ottawa,
University of Calgary,
Queen's University,
University of New Brunswick,
UOIT,
University of Windsor and
Royal Military College of Canada just to name a few.ranks the top engineering schools in Canada. However, every university offering engineering degrees in Canada needs to be accredited by the CEAB (Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board), thus ensuring high standards are enforced at all universities.
[6]
The procedure to obtain the licence is:
- Be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident or on a valid workpermit / visa.
- Have a Bachelor's degree from an accredited Canadian institution or from a recognized foreign university or other higher institution. The new Bachelor's degree being phased in throughout continental Europe under the Bologna declaration is not adequate since it is only a 3 year term, however, the traditional continental European systems of 5 or more years of study to a Dip. Ing. or Mag. Ing are. Thus, for recent European engineering graduates wishing to obtain a licence in Canada, it behoves them to consider completion of several additional years of study such as those leading to the Master's degree (1 additional years so making 4 years in total). The engineer's degree obtained from universities in Europe after completing 4 years of studies is valid.
- Must work at least 4 years as an engineering intern of which at least 1 year must be in a Canadian company (supervised by a licenced senior engineer).
- Be of good reputation.
- Be fluent in English (French in Quebec, English or French in New Brunswick)
The engineer's licence is only valid in the province of delivery. There are however agreements between the associations to ease
mobility.
Europe
right
Finland
Finland's system is derived from Germany's system. Two kinds of schools are recognized, the universities and the
AMKs (literally, "vocational colleges").
Traditionally, universities award only five-, to six-year Master's level degrees called
diplomi-insinööri ("engineer with university diploma"). The degrees are awarded by engineering faculties in universities (in Oulu and Vaasa) or by separate universities of technology (in TKK, Tampere, Lappeenranta). The degree is a scientific, theoretical taught Master's degree. It qualifies for further study into Licentiate or Doctorate. Because of the Bologna process, the degree
tekniikan kandidaatti
("Bachelor of Technology"), corresponding to three years of study into the DI degree, has been introduced.
The AMK's are municipally administered schools that traditionally award 3.5-, to 4.5-year vocational degrees called
insinööri (amk). The aim of the degree is professional competency with less emphasis on scientific study. Although they may be called "Bachelor's degrees" in English, Finnish universities do not recognize them as equal to
tekniikan kandidaatti
but require approximately one year of additional study. Recently, AMK's have also began awarding a higher AMK degrees, designed for AMK-engineers already involved in the working life (at least two years of professional experience). AMK's do not award Licentiates or Doctorates.
France
In
France, the engineering degree is delivered by "
Grandes Écoles d'Ingénieurs" upon completion of 3 years of Master'studies. The Écoles typically recruit undergraduate students from
CPGE (2 or 3 years after the
Baccalaureat), even though some of them include an integrated undergraduate cycle. Hence graduate engineers in France have studied a total of 5 years after the baccalaureate. To be able to deliver the Master of engineering degree, an École Master 's curriculum has to be validated by the Commission des Titres d'Ingénieurs (Commission of the Engineering Title). It is important for the external observer to note that the system in France is extremely demanding in its entrance requirements (numerus clausus), and much more elitist than various other systems. In fact, being a graduate engineer in France is considered as being near/at the top of the social/professional ladder.
Inside a French company the title of
Ingénieur
refers to a rank in qualification and is not restricted. Therefore you can find sometimes
Ingénieurs des Ventes
(Sales Engineers),
Ingénieur Marketing
,
Ingénieur Bancaire
(Banking Engineer),
Ingénieur Recherche & Développement
(R&D Engineer), etc
Germany
In
Germany, the engineering degree is either delivered by Universities, Technical Universities or
Fachhochschulen.
Students receive first a
baccalaureate degree (3 years of studies) followed by a
Master's degree (2 years of studies) according to the principles of the
Bologna declaration, though traditionally, the degree received after completing an engineering education was the German
Diplom.
The quality of German engineering expertise has long been much vaunted, especially in the field of mechanical engineering. This is supported by the degree to which the various theories governing
aerodynamics and
structural mechanics are named after German scientists and engineers such as
Ludwig Prandtl. German engineers have also been praised at being very practical (i.e. skilled at physical work related to their dicipline), ascribed to the high quality of the apprenticeship courses many German engineers go through as part of their education.
[7]
Romania
In
Romania, the engineering degree and "engineer" title is delivered by Technical Universities upon completion of 4 years of studies. Additional master degree (2 years) and doctorate programs (4–5 years) provide the title of "doctor inginer". Students that started studies in Technical Universities before 2005 (when Romania adopted the
Bologna declaration) need to complete a 5 years program to get the engineer title. In this case the master degree is obtained after 1 year of studies.
Only persons with an engineer title can be employed as "engineers". Still persons with competence and experience in an enginnering field that do not have an engineer title, can still be employed to perform engineering tasks as "specialist", "asistant", "technologist" or "technician". But, only engineers can take legal responsibility and provide guarantee upon the work done by a team in the field of engineering. Sometimes a company that is in the field of enginnering and temporarely does not have any employees with an engineer title must pay for an external service of an engineering audit to provide legal guarantee for their products or services.
Slovakia
In
Slovakia, an engineer (
inžinier
) is considered to be a person holding
master degree in technical sciences or economy. Several technical and economical universities offer 2-3 year master study in the fields of chemistry, agriculture, material technology, computer science, electrical and mechanical engineering, nuclear physics and technology or economics. A bachelor degree in similar field is prerequisite. Absolvents are awarded with the
Ing.
title always put in front of one's name; eventual ongoing doctoral study is offered both by universities and some institutes of the
Slovak Academy of Sciences.
The Netherlands
In the
Netherlands there were two paths to study engineering. The
HTS
or higher vocational technical schools awarded a practically orientated degree and the title
ing.
after four years study. The universities offered a more academically oriented degree and the title
Ir.
after five years study.
This changed in 2002 when the
Netherlands switched to the Bachelor-Master system. This is a consequence of the
Bologna process. In this accord 29 European countries agreed to harmonize their higher education system and create a
European higher education area.
In this system the higher vocational technical schools award a bachelor degree and the title
BEng
after four years study. The university's with engineering programs award a bachelors degree and the title
BSc
after the third year. A university bachelor is expected to continue his education for one or two more years to earn his masters degree and the title
MSc
. A
vocational
bachelor may be admitted to a university master degree program although often they are required to take additional courses. The higher vocational technical schools have started to develop master degree programs specifically for their students. This slightly awkward situation is expected to disappear thanks to the European harmonization process.
Turkey
In Turkey, engineering degrees range from a Bachelor's Degree in engineering (for a 4 year period), to a Master's Degree (adding 2 years), and to a Doctoral Degree (usually 4 – 5 years).
The title is limited by law to people with an engineering degree, and the use of the title by others (even persons with much more work experience) is illegal.
The Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (UCTEA) was established in 1954 and separates engineers and architects to professional branches, with the condition of being within the framework of laws and regulations and in accordance with the present conditions, requirements and possibilities and to also establishes new Chambers for the group of engineers and architects, whose professional or working areas are similar or the same.
UCTEA is maintaining its activities with its 23 Chambers, 194 branches of its Chambers and 39 Provincial Coordination Councils. Approximately, graduates of 70 related academic disciplines in engineering, architecture and city planning are members of the Chambers of UCTEA.
United Kingdom
In the
UK, like in
United States and
Canada, engineers are trained in universities but some can start in a technical apprenticeship prior to enrolling in a university engineering degree. In addition those people who are unable to attend university can enroll in the
Engineering Council UK examination program administered by the
City and Guilds of London Institute. Some of these institutions have previously invested heavily in engineering subjects and have become globally renowned. Many engineering courses are assessed and approved by the Professional Institutions reflecting the subject covered;
IMechE,
IET,
BCS,
ICE,
IStructE etc. The degree then counts in part to obtaining
Chartered engineer Status after a period (usually 4–8 years) of structured professional practice, professional review and, if required, further exams to then become a corporate member of the relevant professional body. The term 'Chartered Engineer' is regulated by Royal Assent and not allowed to be used by other professions; the awarding of this status is devolved to the professional institutions by the Engineering Council.
In Britain, Engineers can study for a 4 year period on an
Undergraduate Masters and obtain an
MEng, except in Scotland where the standard period is 5 years due to students leaving school one year earlier than their English, Welsh and Northern Irish counterparts. These are not undergraduate degrees with an additional year, but programmes that are designed from the outset to be 4 or 5 years. Some universities allow a student to opt out after one year before completion of the programme and receive a bachelor's degree, whilst some universities award both a bachelor's and a master's degree on completion. Many courses include a year in industry, which is usually in the antepenultimate or penultimate year of the degree course.
Alternatively, students can receive first a
baccalaureate degree (3 or 4 years of studies) followed by a 1 year
Master's degree.
Asia
India
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