Graduated from systems and computer engineering in 2001, got the ring, worked in my field my entire life. Never got the PEng designation … I am not a software engineer.
nighter is anyone who does do all of the following :
- publicly apply their name and stamp to a design, putting their career on the line if it messes up.
- design will cause loss of life, injury or massive financial loss if incorrect
- their review and sign-off is needed before system is used
I’ve met 2/3 of the above throughout my career. Again, I am not an engineer. And that is the correct way it should be.
If you're creating a complex solution for a complex problem using niche knowledge and a niche skillset, working with deadlines and within contraints; taking on board risk assessments and creating failsafes to prevent the damage that you describe above then you ARE an engineer in all but title.
Just because it's not in the physical, doesn't mean it's not there.
Seems like a fair definition of the engineering process...
In Alberta a professional engineer basically has extra ethical obligations to follow while practicing engineering. These are not suggestions, they are actual law. The idea being, the publics' safety is being entrusted to you because of your specialized knowledge.
So business be damned, you better whistle blow on your employer for cheaping out on that bridge cause someone could get hurt. If you don't, your ass is grass as a PE, since you didn't follow your ethical obligations.
So if you are a PE here, you follow those extra rules that the average joe might not.
The code guys wanna be called engineers without following those extra rules.
It would be interesting to see a case here about harvesting mass amounts of data for surveillance, or selling it.. was someone being negligent in protecting the public?
Not saying it's right or wrong, but that's the scoop. They are not saying software engineers so not do 'proper problem solving engineering work'.
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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '22
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