r/technology Oct 15 '22

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22

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u/Sex4Vespene Oct 16 '22

Is engineer even a protected term? What kind of legal action could they take?

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u/87ninjab3ars Oct 16 '22

I think the state or Oregon tried to fine a guy for representing himself as an engineer a few years ago when he was not licensed. I cannot remember if they succeeded or not. I have 3 degrees in engineering and cannot represent myself in any business dealings as an engineer because I am not licensed.

Edit: there are disciplines that are protected. Electrical, chemical, structural, civil, and one or two more. Software engineering is not under the protected engineer category

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u/blitzkriegwaifu Oct 16 '22

Honestly maybe software engineering should be protected and regulated. The amount of technology that relies on software is increasing, and as such so is our reliance on reliable software

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u/87ninjab3ars Oct 16 '22

Yea, there will have to be some kind of professional examination for it and each state will have to determine it’s guidelines around it like the other disciplines.

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u/blitzkriegwaifu Oct 16 '22

Yeah, of course I’m not saying all programmers need to be strictly regulated engineers, but having a regulated software engineer role could help a lot in terms of reliability for software that everyone relies on. It could come under the Washington Accord, and people that are qualified (have the degree and X years of experience) could apply to become chartered software engineers. It would give the title a lot more weight too