What Does 'engineer' Mean Anymore??

In recent times, the term “engineer” is a popular term. Once reserved for an individual that studied a specific field, now almost anyone can be an “engineer”.

Software engineer, full stack engineer, financial engineer, …

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Ugh - I did my undergraduate degree in Canada, where engineering is a regulated profession. Even if you had an engineering degree, you would have to practice as a profession before society qualifies you as an engineer.

Then software came along and ate up all the engineers.

The company demand for engineers was (is?) so high that even if you did not graduate with a “software engineering” degree, they would consider you a candidate as software engineer.

Imagine a software engineer working as a civil engineer - would you cross that bridge they designed??

Honestly, as much as I want to have the term engineer as a highly respected term by society, like “Doctor” - engineers lost that battle December 31, 1973.

copyright Penguin Random House

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