What is the difference between an Engineer and a Technician?

Definition of terms to clarify the text: Engineer (big E) means a member of the professional engineering society, and the verb Engineering means what an Engineer does. engineer (small e) means someone practicing engineering as a concept, not as the formal professional practice defined and protected under APEGA right-to-use regulations. The verb engineering will be explored in the text.

What makes something engineering versus a technique? The technique is fully explicit and exclusive, while engineering is an intuitive application of principles of matter in novel and unique circumstances. The computer will make a vast portion of yesteryears engineering into a technique. Discretization of a problem allows explicitness in computation. However, the basic principles endowed in the program are less accessible to the user. Assumptions are often hidden or invariable. Therefore, the profession of Engineers will evolve into a prescribed technique and the engineering is embodied in this technique. How do we then understand the proper application of the technique if the principles are not accessible to us? Another problem confronts us too, because our intuitions are not fully developed to appreciate the

application of the principles. There is a broad and general shift away from purely economic metrics to allow social factors into the decision making process. The focus for the working Engineer therefore is the economic and social application of the technique. However, our education and job descriptions are not appropriately broad enough to encompass any substantial debate of the critical concepts, nor empower us for guiding change in the application and societal impact of technology. The Engineering society should play a leading role in these decisions. For this to occur, the Engineering society needs to better understand the application and social impact of technology. The impetus of the iron ring ceremony is to instill this sense into young engineers.
They do not preach that their God will rouse them a little before the nuts work loose. They do not teach that His Pity allows them to leave their work when they damn-well choose. As in the thronged and the lighted ways, so in the dark and the desert they stand. Wary and watchful all their days that their brethren's days may be long in the land.
~The Sons of Martha (Kipling)

However, your education has not met your needs in this area. You only have a very superficial understanding of the issues and are almost entirely ignorant of your own ignorance. This isnt your fault, but it is an important realization to come to. So it is incumbent upon you to make awareness of the application and societal impact of technology a part of your continuing professional and personal development, as this is what your profession truly needs of you. The notion that our technology is disruptive or destructive towards the environment is common and rests on good fundamental principles. A glaring example is if its possible to harness enough exergy to allow expanding populations to flourish AND develop sustainable energy practices?

To these from birth is Belief forbidden; from these till death is Relief afar. They are concerned with matter hidden - under the earthline their altars are; The secret fountains to follow up, waters withdrawn to restore to the mouth, And gather the floods as in a cup, and pour them again at a city drouth. ~ibid

We are already aware of the need to explore the impact of our technology, because continued application of the same technique is bound to produce the same results. The opportunity as Engineers is to participate in a grassroots society that recognizes social and technical needs and attempts to set standards and provide information to improve techniques that are suited to societal needs. It may be possible sustainably apply our techniques for the foreseeable future, but the answer ought to be pursued by engineers in a spirit of truthfulness and obligation to the care of society. So we see that engineer (small e) versus technician isnt a matter of education, since both an Engineer (big E) or a Technician will receive the same educational framework to use a technique. engineering is the search for technical solutions to social needs, of which the technique is the end product of intuitive application of knowledge to a physical problem. engineering leads the way, but this requires people with insight into the relationship between society and technology in addition to the creativity of producing or expanding a technique to apply to that social-technical relationship. There are no technical answers waiting to be spat out of a computer. engineering requires a creative mind to interact with the techniques in order to humanize it. An equation wont tell you if it is suited for human behaviour, only human insight can do that. The opportunity as Engineers is for a burst of creativity to renew fields that have become mired in technique. The societal need for a sustainable human

environment is obvious. The techniques to accomplish this are not, nor do we truly know if they presently exist or even if the can exist. Young Engineers with creative minds and those who have insight into human nature have an incredible opportunity to be engineers. Most of you will be technicians. That isnt meant to be derogatory, only descriptive of the predominant application of engineering knowledge within the Engineering workforce. There is a great need for skillful management and application of technique. For those seeking something different, I invite you to explore your ideas, develop your intuition, deepen your humanity, be creative, and find a role in the engineering society.