Any engineers here?

[spesmilitis]

I am a Chemical Engineer.

 

[shop until I die!]

 

[SmoothTalker]

I wanted to be a computer engineer but couldn't handle the university work load. Well.. I could handle it in terms of getting decent grades, but I was too miserable to do 4 more years of that.

 

[Teflon_Mcgee]

No, but getting close.
EE and I'm over the hump.

 

[Speculator E]

I am a Chemical Engineer.

Cool. Are you working or in school? I'm a Chem E senior.

 

[Mr. Wolf]

I'm a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer... Testing in progress for the past 4 years.

 

[wolf116]

What drugs can you make?

 

[Neubie]

I"m thinkin of studying chemical engineering, how you finding it?

 

[Naughtyboy]

I'm an electronics and telecommunication engineer
But currently working in a sales position in an altogether different field

 

[insomniac]

EE and work in semiconductor industry.

 

[kdnash82]

Systems Engineer.... I deal in military computer systems... no certs, no degrees

 

[SmoothTalker]

kdnash82, can you explain the system down there? Up here engineering is a controlled profession, and you're only legally allowed to call yourself an engineer if you have the P. Eng designation which you earn by having an undergrad engineering degree and relevant work experience, then passing an exam, and some other little stuff.

It's like doctors. Just because you know a thing or two about the body, you're not a doctor unless you have a license.

Is anyone allowed to call themselves an engineer if they do 'engineering' work in the US?

 

[kdnash82]

kdnash82, can you explain the system down there? Up here engineering is a controlled profession, and you're only legally allowed to call yourself an engineer if you have the P. Eng designation which you earn by having an undergrad engineering degree and relevant work experience, then passing an exam, and some other little stuff.

It's like doctors. Just because you know a thing or two about the body, you're not a doctor unless you have a license.

Is anyone allowed to call themselves an engineer if they do 'engineering' work in the US?

To tell you the truth, I've never thought about it. It's the position I hold with the company. It's the title they gave me. So maybe you're right.

When I look online and I see what a systems engineer makes in San Diego, CA, and I compare it to my salary, I'm at the top tier of that scale.

To be honest with you, they could say my title was custodian. As long as I was still working with military computer systems and making the money that a systems engineer makes, it really wouldn't matter.

I guess you could say the same thing about custodians though huh?

 

[ready123]

Is anyone allowed to call themselves an engineer if they do 'engineering' work in the US?

Yeah here in the US, the term in engineer is used wayyy more loosely than in any other country. You don't need the PE cert to be considered an engineer here, only the work experience. You go to Europe and tell them you're an engineer and you don't have licensing, they'll laugh at you. For us guys in the US working tech, this probably not a good thing, but it is what it is

I'm EE, used to work as Test Engineer in Semiconductors, now back in grad school going for a Masters EE

 

[Eddie417]

kdnash82, can you explain the system down there? Up here engineering is a controlled profession, and you're only legally allowed to call yourself an engineer if you have the P. Eng designation which you earn by having an undergrad engineering degree and relevant work experience, then passing an exam, and some other little stuff.

It's like doctors. Just because you know a thing or two about the body, you're not a doctor unless you have a license.

Is anyone allowed to call themselves an engineer if they do 'engineering' work in the US?

North America is goofy that way. Everyone calls themselves an engineer. As far as I'm concerned unless you have the iron ring you're no engineer.

 

[Teflon_Mcgee]

kdnash82, can you explain the system down there? Up here engineering is a controlled profession, and you're only legally allowed to call yourself an engineer if you have the P. Eng designation which you earn by having an undergrad engineering degree and relevant work experience, then passing an exam, and some other little stuff.

It's like doctors. Just because you know a thing or two about the body, you're not a doctor unless you have a license.

Is anyone allowed to call themselves an engineer if they do 'engineering' work in the US?

It's the same here.
Only after an 4 year degree (with few exceptions), passing the fundementals of eng. exam, working for a designated time (usually 4 years) under a professional eng., and passing the P.E. exam with references can you offer your services as an engineer.

Of course anyone can call themselves engineers. As long as the context is clear and they aren't doing work under the guise of an engineer.

I.e. a custodial engineer or sanitation engineer.

Blurring the line are titles like software engineer.

Those working for a company under the supervision of a professional engineer are somewhat exempt as the company is th entity that is represented and responsible for any work the engineer does.

This may differ if the any project has any affect on public safety.
It also varies by state.

And like practicing medicine or law without a license, the same thing applies to engineering. It is punishable by law.

 

[synergy1]

I have degrees in mechanical engineering.

 

[djtdot]

5/8ths of an engineer!

 

[spesmilitis]

Cool. Are you working or in school? I'm a Chem E senior.

Working, graduated in June. I could offer one piece of advice to you, go to every company information session and at the end, ask for a business card. When you decide to apply for jobs, you'll then have contacts in the industry. Also, the sooner you interview jobs, the more likely you'll get a higher salary.

I"m thinkin of studying chemical engineering, how you finding it?

Loves it. Very hard though. And not for everyone. If I were you, I would look at the course descriptions for the required courses of all the science and engineering majors and see if you want to learn what they teach in those courses. Some of the course descriptions can be confusing, so let me know if you have any questions.

 

[SmoothTalker]

Reading course descriptions is a good tip, I just want to add a warning. Don't be fooled if the course descriptions sound easy. I thought so as a lot of the material looked like review of high school stuff. The difference is that its at a much much deeper level.