Maybe it's an ingroup vs outgroup thing. Living in an area in Canada with a large population of engineers (in oil and gas), I meet a lot of people who are touchy about who gets to be called an "engineer".
They seem to forget that military engineers are "engineers", and they've apparently been around since the early 1600s [1]. And locomotive engineers are "engineers", and it looks like they don't even need post-secondary schooling [2].
And the rules around the P.Eng. titles are provincially regulated as opposed to federally, meaning the rules in Ontario (where apparently the term "Engineer" is protected) is different than in Alberta (where the protected term is "Professional Engineer").
That's why in Alberta, Raymond Merhej was sued for using the title "systems engineer" (as an Apple Canada-certified systems engineer) but the suit was dismissed in late 2003. In response, the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta (APEGGA) said basically they'll lobby the government to amend the laws to prevent that in the future. [3] I don't know if such an amendment was ever completed though.
I wonder if engineers in traditional fields are protective of their title because they work with a lot of engineering technicians, so they feel they need to differentiate and protect their work?
They seem to forget that military engineers are "engineers", and they've apparently been around since the early 1600s [1]. And locomotive engineers are "engineers", and it looks like they don't even need post-secondary schooling [2].
And the rules around the P.Eng. titles are provincially regulated as opposed to federally, meaning the rules in Ontario (where apparently the term "Engineer" is protected) is different than in Alberta (where the protected term is "Professional Engineer").
That's why in Alberta, Raymond Merhej was sued for using the title "systems engineer" (as an Apple Canada-certified systems engineer) but the suit was dismissed in late 2003. In response, the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta (APEGGA) said basically they'll lobby the government to amend the laws to prevent that in the future. [3] I don't know if such an amendment was ever completed though.
I wonder if engineers in traditional fields are protective of their title because they work with a lot of engineering technicians, so they feel they need to differentiate and protect their work?
[1] http://cmea-agmc.ca/our-heritage-and-our-stories
[2] http://www5.hrsdc.gc.ca/noc/english/noc/2011/Profile.aspx?va...
[3] http://www.itbusiness.ca/news/it-industry-wins-round-in-engi...