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Professional engineering in Canada means you swore an oath the protect the public, and you went through an accredited 4 year engineering program for specific pr

Professional engineering in Canada means you swore an oath the protect the public, and you went through an accredited 4 year engineering program for specific programs and then passed an exam and have put x amount of years of practical experience. We should absolutely have that level of accreditation for disciplines where public safety is incredibly high. For an attempted politicians to use title inflation to gain publics trust is pretty bad and ruins the value that engineering had developed from holding a high bar for accountability.

alephnerd 3y ago
It's not really title inflation when it's the colloquial term though. The issue is the verbiage used in licensure hasn't kept up with modern English. The only difference between a UWaterloo Software Engineer major (licensed engineer) and a UWaterloo Computer Science major is that dumb iron ring. Stay classy Canada.
- boringg 3y ago
  I would agree there is an issue there with the term being diluted to the point of almost meaningless and how licensure should address that problem. However if they were to use another term, that term would likely get co-opted and diluted as it would be a coveted term (the reason it got diluted in the first place as it had accrued perceived public value and trust). I will take small issue with your second statement - there is a difference between those two programs at Uwaterloo: Mainly comp sci you have a lot of spare time and have a lot of electives and more flexibility in your coursework. Computer engineering you have a specific regime of classes that you need to go through - specifically in physics, circuits, math, chemistry. It the SE program has a higher bar to get into it as a function of its program size being smaller. Both have benefits and drawbacks but I wouldn't call a comp sci major a professional engineer unless they passed the PE. There is a component of physical sciences in the engineering program. My personal take is that professional engineering - has an element of understanding the physical environment and the mathematics that we have used to build civilization (such as physics, math, circuits and chemistry) and you have an oath to public safety above private motivations.
whycome 3y ago
He has an iron ring and works in the field and graduated from an engineering program. What should he call himself? He should only be barred from calling himself a "Professional Engineer". Does the general public have this value connection to the term "engineer"? Because I don't think that's the case - I hear everyone use the term to describe those working in the field.
- polishdude20 3y ago
  When I got my first job in BC after mech eng school, I called myself an "Engineer In Training".
- i67vw3 3y ago
  As far as I know, in US/Canada after a students graduates from a civil engineering course, he is called as Engineer In Training (EIT) after he passes Fundamental of Engineering (FE) exam. Then he has to work for 3/5 years at a engineering firm. He will then have to pass Professional Engineering (PE) exam to be called PE. I think he also has to get two recommendations from other PE's then only he can get certified as PE. Usually, in US you are considered a 'real' engineer only when you get certified as PE.
- boringg 3y ago
  He should call himself an EIT until he passes the exam to become a professional engineer.

alephnerd 3y ago

It's not really title inflation when it's the colloquial term though. The issue is the verbiage used in licensure hasn't kept up with modern English. The only difference between a UWaterloo Software Engineer major (licensed engineer) and a UWaterloo Computer Science major is that dumb iron ring. Stay classy Canada.

boringg 3y ago
I would agree there is an issue there with the term being diluted to the point of almost meaningless and how licensure should address that problem. However if they were to use another term, that term would likely get co-opted and diluted as it would be a coveted term (the reason it got diluted in the first place as it had accrued perceived public value and trust). I will take small issue with your second statement - there is a difference between those two programs at Uwaterloo: Mainly comp sci you have a lot of spare time and have a lot of electives and more flexibility in your coursework. Computer engineering you have a specific regime of classes that you need to go through - specifically in physics, circuits, math, chemistry. It the SE program has a higher bar to get into it as a function of its program size being smaller. Both have benefits and drawbacks but I wouldn't call a comp sci major a professional engineer unless they passed the PE. There is a component of physical sciences in the engineering program. My personal take is that professional engineering - has an element of understanding the physical environment and the mathematics that we have used to build civilization (such as physics, math, circuits and chemistry) and you have an oath to public safety above private motivations.

whycome 3y ago

He has an iron ring and works in the field and graduated from an engineering program. What should he call himself? He should only be barred from calling himself a "Professional Engineer". Does the general public have this value connection to the term "engineer"? Because I don't think that's the case - I hear everyone use the term to describe those working in the field.

polishdude20 3y ago
When I got my first job in BC after mech eng school, I called myself an "Engineer In Training".
i67vw3 3y ago
As far as I know, in US/Canada after a students graduates from a civil engineering course, he is called as Engineer In Training (EIT) after he passes Fundamental of Engineering (FE) exam. Then he has to work for 3/5 years at a engineering firm. He will then have to pass Professional Engineering (PE) exam to be called PE. I think he also has to get two recommendations from other PE's then only he can get certified as PE. Usually, in US you are considered a 'real' engineer only when you get certified as PE.
boringg 3y ago
He should call himself an EIT until he passes the exam to become a professional engineer.