My definition is a bit different from what I generally hear, and is based on discussions with my father, who is a structural engineer. Engineering is about making a process legally defensible. A structural engineer can stand up in court and say, "As designed, this should have stood up to all expected loads in this location," and have it be taken as expert opinion.
In the US, where engineer isn't as controlled a term as elsewhere, we use the term engineer for all kinds of roles. In, say, Canada, engineer means a professional engineer in one of the legally protected categories. You can't use engineer as a job title outside of those.
So if you're trying to talk about software engineering, imagine something horrible has happened with a system you were involved in designing (say, Therac-25). What what you need to know and do to be able to say that this failure should legally qualify as an "act of god"?
In the US, where engineer isn't as controlled a term as elsewhere, we use the term engineer for all kinds of roles. In, say, Canada, engineer means a professional engineer in one of the legally protected categories. You can't use engineer as a job title outside of those.
So if you're trying to talk about software engineering, imagine something horrible has happened with a system you were involved in designing (say, Therac-25). What what you need to know and do to be able to say that this failure should legally qualify as an "act of god"?