I don't know why, but I frequently find myself writing volumes as a comment to someone else's blog. I've turned some of them into blog posts here - if there was any way that I could tenuously work it in.
Recently it struck me that I can post a comment as a blog post straight out over here, when it is a comment to a comment that has been made to one of my posts. (Is that confusing enough yet?)
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Em wondered about "programmers" and "engineers," and specifically the prevalence of the latter on this side of the pond in his comment to this post.
And it is true, everyone seems to have engineer appended these days, from Domestic Engineer for people who focus on housekeeping and parenting tasks to Sanitation Engineer for the guys who pick up trash.
Engineering and engine do have the same root, and most likely the concept has evolved originally from someone concerned primarily with engines to that today of "A person who is trained in and uses technological and scientific knowledge to solve practical problems."
The variety of areas of specialization, from Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, Chemical, Aeronautical, Computer, and Industrial Engineering, illustrates how much technological development has taken place.
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Most programmers here would have a job title of "Software Engineer." I would classify a programmer as someone who writes code for applications that will be sold as such: Microsoft Word, Movable Type, Oracle etc. At least half of all programmers would have Computer Science qualifications.
Given the high-tech nature of our world, many engineers (and certainly those in R&D) need to be able to code to at least some level of proficiency. Here however the code is not aimed at market, but rather used as tools to make hardware do something (when working on prototypes of products) or to collect and/or manipulate data from experiments conducted on hardware (by running code that puts said hardware through its paces). We code mostly in a scripting language (Python in our case) for ease of modification and accessibility, whereas programmers would use compiled languages for speed and security (among other things).
In my case, seven of my team mates are Mechanical Engineers, and one is a physicist, but all of them jump in at times and modify code, or even generate new code, to accomplish their goals.
I am the lone Computer Engineer, and so I do a disproportionate amount of the coding, by virtue of the fact that I have "computer" in my degree title, although I have some "proper engineering" work as well.
As Computer Engineering is a relatively new degree a word of clarification: In most instances, the curriculum for Computer Engineering is the same as that of Electrical Engineering for the first two years. For the final two years there are a number of required subjects in Electrical Engineering, some in Computer Science, and some in Computer Engineering proper (computer architecture, logic design and the like.) Technical electives can be chosen in any of these three fields to construct a specialty.
By training I would be about 60% engineer, 15% mathematician, and 25% computer scientist.
By job function, my coding is all direct-use data and hardware oriented, aimed at allowing us to fulfil our engineering functions. I think that makes me an engineer who happens to code. But I guess the definition would depend on your perspective :-)
Recently it struck me that I can post a comment as a blog post straight out over here, when it is a comment to a comment that has been made to one of my posts. (Is that confusing enough yet?)
::
Em wondered about "programmers" and "engineers," and specifically the prevalence of the latter on this side of the pond in his comment to this post.
And it is true, everyone seems to have engineer appended these days, from Domestic Engineer for people who focus on housekeeping and parenting tasks to Sanitation Engineer for the guys who pick up trash.
Engineering and engine do have the same root, and most likely the concept has evolved originally from someone concerned primarily with engines to that today of "A person who is trained in and uses technological and scientific knowledge to solve practical problems."
The variety of areas of specialization, from Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, Chemical, Aeronautical, Computer, and Industrial Engineering, illustrates how much technological development has taken place.
::
Most programmers here would have a job title of "Software Engineer." I would classify a programmer as someone who writes code for applications that will be sold as such: Microsoft Word, Movable Type, Oracle etc. At least half of all programmers would have Computer Science qualifications.
Given the high-tech nature of our world, many engineers (and certainly those in R&D) need to be able to code to at least some level of proficiency. Here however the code is not aimed at market, but rather used as tools to make hardware do something (when working on prototypes of products) or to collect and/or manipulate data from experiments conducted on hardware (by running code that puts said hardware through its paces). We code mostly in a scripting language (Python in our case) for ease of modification and accessibility, whereas programmers would use compiled languages for speed and security (among other things).
In my case, seven of my team mates are Mechanical Engineers, and one is a physicist, but all of them jump in at times and modify code, or even generate new code, to accomplish their goals.
I am the lone Computer Engineer, and so I do a disproportionate amount of the coding, by virtue of the fact that I have "computer" in my degree title, although I have some "proper engineering" work as well.
As Computer Engineering is a relatively new degree a word of clarification: In most instances, the curriculum for Computer Engineering is the same as that of Electrical Engineering for the first two years. For the final two years there are a number of required subjects in Electrical Engineering, some in Computer Science, and some in Computer Engineering proper (computer architecture, logic design and the like.) Technical electives can be chosen in any of these three fields to construct a specialty.
By training I would be about 60% engineer, 15% mathematician, and 25% computer scientist.
By job function, my coding is all direct-use data and hardware oriented, aimed at allowing us to fulfil our engineering functions. I think that makes me an engineer who happens to code. But I guess the definition would depend on your perspective :-)
Comments (2)
Very thought-provoking topic. Made me think of my own situation. I still often refer to myself as "an artist trapped in the body of a scientist but labelled by society as an engineer".
Being a scientist by education (Physics with Astrophysics degree) my professional career started as a "software engineer" - in a department where most of my colleagues were graduates in either "Computer Science" or "Electical and Electronic Engineering.". Coding was almost non-existent - mostly specifications and design work - but like you say some prototyping and proof of concept involved a little coding in C++, Unix etc. The main tools used in my job was a Word Processor at the time! Interesting perspective when you view it as a "scientist" who became an "engineer". Anyway - from being a software engineer - I went on to become systems/network designer - where the main tool was still a word processor - and then Powerpoint. How little was I to know then how important a part Powerpoint would play in life. So - although titled as a "designer" - I was still classified as an "engineer" - and then as I moved into a pre-sales job (as a pre-sales "customer network engineer") the main tools were still Microsoft Word - and Powerpoint - and a bit of Microsoft Excel. I then went on to become an "Architect" (i.e. a systems and network architect) - and now still kind of informally referred to as "chief engineer" - isn't it strange how the word "engineer" seems to apply to anything technical? - so what do I spend most of time using these days: Microsoft Powerpoint.
Welcome to Powerpoint Heaven. I once did a Shockwave Flash movie on this topic at:
http://www.route79.com/journal/archives/000197.html - which you may find entertaining.
(Although the theme of the story then was about our office moved - it also marked an association with an environment that was more about doing Powerpoint.)
Posted by Jag | January 19, 2005 8:51 AM
Posted on January 19, 2005 08:51
It's amazing that I, as an automotive emissions engineer, am using similar tools to those of Jag! I had to laugh when I read that -- PowerPoint and Word (and now, Project) are the most often opened applications on my computer. My only coding left is in Matlab. And I tend to forget it if I've been off it for a while! (Maybe that's age.)
Posted by Chrysalis | January 19, 2005 10:14 AM
Posted on January 19, 2005 10:14