Re: Do you equate engineers and programmers?

["David W. Willson" <WILLSON -at- BAUER -dot- USA -dot- COM>]

After spending close to 10 years in an engineering school, I feel that I
can add something to the
discussion.

1.  There is such a thing as a computer engineer.  At the University of
Michigan, the computer engineering
curriculum specializes in computer hardware and is related to
electrical engineering.  Computer scientists
are also in the same department as the electrical and computer
engineers, but they are registered in the
liberal arts school and go through its distribution requirements.

2.  Writing skills among engineers vary widely, as they do for any
other profession that doesn't have
"writer" as part of its title.  However, engineers usually don't get
much practice because their curriculum
is crammed with engineering classes, and they have little time to take
non-required courses.  (At U-M,
the only required writing classes are a 1st-year composition class and
a senior technical writing
class.)

3.  Reinforcing the stereotype that engineers can't write, in the end,
makes the tech writer's job more
difficult.  If engineers are constantly bombarded with the message that
they aren't expected to write
well, they won't bother trying.  Then we have to try to fix the poor
efforts of those who think they don't
have to write well.

4.  Getting a P.E. license is not a cakewalk.  One has to take an exam
around the end of their undergraduate
curriculum, spend 5 years under the supervision of a P.E., then take
another, much more difficult exam.
Unless the engineer works in consulting, it usually isn't worth it
(unless the company they work for provides
incentives).

5.  I understand about restricting who can call themselves an engineer.
I have a friend in the auto industry
who calls himself a design engineer.  He is a draftsman with about 2
years of community college courses
on drafting.  It upsets those who spent 5 years (the average length of
stay at the U-M engineering school)
working extremely hard to get the "engineer" title.  Engineering
schools spend quite a bit of effort getting
accredited so their graduates can call themselves engineers.  It hurts
the profession when people with no
engineering training (and make no mistake about it, engineering ARE
professionals, just like doctors and lawyers)
call themselves engineers.

Well, I must get back to work.  --Dave