Engineer

Conference of Engineers at the Menai Straits Preparatory to Floating one of the Tubes of the Britannia Bridge, by John Seymour Lucas, 1868
Occupation
Names	Engineer
Activity sectors	Applied sciences
Description
Competencies	Mathematics, scientific knowledge, management skills
Education required	Engineering education

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality, safety and cost.^[1][2] The word engineer is derived from the Latin roots ingeniare ("to contrive, devise") and ingenium ("cleverness").^[3][4]

Engineers are grounded in applied sciences, and their work in research and development is distinct from the basic research focus of scientists.^[2] The work of engineers forms the link between scientific discoveries and their subsequent applications to human needs.^[1]

Roles and expertise[link]

Design[link]

Engineers develop new technological solutions. During the engineering design process, the responsibilities of the engineer may include defining problems, conducting and narrowing research, analyzing criteria, finding and analyzing solutions, and making decisions. Much of an engineer's time is spent on researching, locating, applying, and transferring information.^[5] Indeed, research suggests engineers spend 56% of their time engaged in various different information behaviours, including 14% actively searching for information.^[6]

Engineers must weigh different design choices on their merits and choose the solution that best matches the requirements. Their crucial and unique task is to identify, understand, and interpret the constraints on a design in order to produce a successful result.

Analysis[link]

Engineers conferring on prototype design, 1954

Engineers apply techniques of engineering analysis in testing, production, or maintenance. Analytical engineers may supervise production in factories and elsewhere, determine the causes of a process failure, and test output to maintain quality. They also estimate the time and cost required to complete projects. Supervisory engineers are responsible for major components or entire projects. Engineering analysis involves the application of scientific analytic principles and processes to reveal the properties and state of the system, device or mechanism under study. Engineering analysis proceeds by separating the engineering design into the mechanisms of operation or failure, analyzing or estimating each component of the operation or failure mechanism in isolation, and re-combining the components. They may analyse risk.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Many engineers use computers to produce and analyze designs, to simulate and test how a machine, structure, or system operates, to generate specifications for parts, to monitor the quality of products, and to control the efficiency of processes.

Specialization and time management[link]

Most engineers specialize in one or more engineering disciplines.^[1] Numerous specialties are recognized by professional societies, and each of the major branches of engineering has numerous subdivisions. Civil engineering, for example, includes structural and transportation engineering, and materials engineering includes ceramic, metallurgical, and polymer engineering. Engineers also may specialize in one industry, such as motor vehicles, or in one type of technology, such as turbines or semiconductor materials.^[1]

Several recent studies have investigated how engineers spend their time; that is, the work tasks they perform and how their time is distributed among these. Research^[11][12] suggests that there are several key themes present in engineers’ work: (1) technical work (i.e., the application of science to product development); (2) social work (i.e., interactive communication between people); (3) computer-based work; (4) information behaviours. Amongst other more detailed findings, a recent work sampling study^[12] found that engineers spend 62.92% of their time engaged in technical work, 40.37% in social work, and 49.66% in computer-based work. Furthermore, there was considerable overlap between these different types of work, with engineers spending 24.96% of their time engaged in technical and social work, 37.97% in technical and non-social, 15.42% in non-technical and social, and 21.66% in non-technical and non-social.

Engineering is also an information intensive field, with research finding that engineers spend 55.8% of their time engaged in various different information behaviours, including 14.2% actively seeking information from other people (7.8%) and information repositories such as documents and databases (6.4%)^[11].

The time engineers spend engaged in such activities is also reflected in the competencies required in engineering roles. In addition to engineers’ core technical competence, research has also demonstrated the critical nature of their personal attributes, project management skills, and cognitive abilities to success in the role^[13].

Ethics[link]

The Challenger disaster is held as a case study of engineering ethics.

Engineers have obligations to the public, their clients, employers and the profession. Many engineering societies have established codes of practice and codes of ethics to guide members and inform the public at large. Each engineering discipline and professional society maintains a code of ethics, which the members pledge to uphold. Depending on their specializations, engineers may also be governed by specific statute, whistleblowing, product liability laws, and often the principles of business ethics.^[14][15][16]

Some graduates of engineering programs in North America may be recognized by the Iron Ring or Engineer's Ring, a ring made of iron or stainless steel that is worn on the little finger of the dominant hand. This tradition began in 1925 in Canada with The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer, where the ring serves as a symbol and reminder of the engineer's obligations for the engineering profession. In 1972, the practice was adopted by several colleges in the United States including members of the Order of the Engineer.

Education[link]

Most engineering programs involve a concentration of study in an engineering specialty, along with courses in both mathematics and the physical and life sciences. Many programs also include courses in general engineering. A design course, sometimes accompanied by a computer or laboratory class or both, is part of the curriculum of most programs. Often, general courses not directly related to engineering, such as those in the social sciences or humanities, also are required.

Graduate training is essential for engineering faculty positions and some research and development programs, but is not required for the majority of entry-level engineering jobs. Many experienced engineers obtain graduate degrees in engineering or business administration to learn new technology and broaden their education. Numerous high-level executives in government and industry began their careers as engineers.

Accreditation is the process by which engineering program are evaluated by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met. The Washington Accord serves as an international accreditation agreement for academic engineering degrees, recognizing the substantial equivalency in the standards set by many major national engineering bodies. In the United States, post-secondary degree programs in engineering are accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. In much of Europe and the Commonwealth professional accreditation is provided by Engineering Institutions, such as the Institution of Civil Engineers,the Institution of Mechanical Engineers or the Institution of Engineering and Technology from the United Kingdom.

Regulation[link]

In many countries, engineering tasks such as the design of bridges, electric power plants, industrial equipment, machine design and chemical plants, must be approved by a licensed professional engineer. Most commonly titled Professional Engineer is a license to practice and is indicated with the use of post-nominal letters; PE or P.Eng. These are common in North America, European Engineer (Eur Ing) in Europe. The practice of engineering in the UK is not a regulated profession other than the control of the titles of Chartered Engineer (CEng) and Incorporated Engineer (IEng). The title CEng is in use in much of the Commonwealth. Many engineers in the UK also include semi skilled trades to engineering technicians. This is seen by some as a misuse of the title, giving a false image of the profession. A growing movement in the UK is to legally protect the title 'Engineer' so that only professional engineers can use it, a DirectGov petition,^[17] has been started to further this cause.

In the United States, licensure is generally attainable through combination of education, pre-examination (Fundamentals of Engineering exam), examination (Professional Engineering Exam),^[18] and engineering experience (typically in the area of 5+ years). Each state tests and licenses Professional Engineers. Currently most states do not license by specific engineering discipline, but rather provide generalized licensure, and trust engineers to use professional judgement regarding their individual competencies; this is the favoured approach of the professional societies. Despite this, however, at least one of the examinations required by most states is actually focused on a particular discipline; candidates for licensure typically choose the category of examination which comes closest to their respective expertise.

In Canada, the profession in each province is governed by its own engineering association. For instance, in the Province of British Columbia an engineering graduate with four or more years of post graduate experience in an engineering-related field and passing exams in ethics and law will need to be registered by the Association for Professional Engineers and Geoscientists (APEGBC)^[19] in order to become a Professional Engineer and be granted the professional designation of P.Eng allowing one to practice engineering.

In Continental Europe, Latin America, Turkey and elsewhere the title is limited by law to people with an engineering degree and the use of the title by others is illegal. In Italy, the title is limited to people who both hold an engineering degree and have passed a professional qualification examination (Esame di Stato). In Portugal, professional engineer titles and accredited engineering degrees are regulated and certified by the Ordem dos Engenheiros. In the Czech Republic, the title "engineer" (Ing.) is given to people with a (masters) degree in chemistry, technology or economics for historical and traditional reasons. In Greece, the academic title of "Diploma Engineer" is awarded after completion of the five-year engineering study course and the title of "Certified Engineer" is awarded after completion of the four-year course of engineering studies at a Technological Educational Institute (TEI).

Perception[link]

Statue of engineer Robert Fulton at the United States Capitol

The perception of engineering varies across countries and continents. In the United States, continental western Europe, eastern Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Latin American and Canada engineering and engineers are held in very high esteem. British school children in the 1950s were brought up with stirring tales of 'the Victorian Engineers', chief amongst whom were the Brunels, the Stephensons, Telford and their contemporaries. In Canada, a 2002 study by the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers revealed that engineers are the third most respected professionals behind doctors and pharmacists.^[20] In the Indian subcontinent, Russia and China, engineering is one of the most sought after undergraduate courses, inviting thousands of applicants to show their ability in highly competitive entrance examinations. In Egypt, the educational system makes engineering the second-most-respected profession in the country (after medicine); engineering colleges at Egyptian universities require extremely high marks on the General Certificate of Secondary Education (Arabic: الثانوية العامة‎ al-Thānawiyyah al-`Āmmah)—on the order of 97 or 98%—and are thus considered (with colleges of medicine, natural science, and pharmacy) to be among the "pinnacle colleges" (كليات القمة kullīyāt al-qimmah).

The definition of what engineering is varies across countries. In the UK "engineering" is defined as an industry sector consisting of employers and employees loosely termed as "engineers" who range from semi skilled trades to chartered engineers. In the US and Canada, engineering is defined as a regulated profession whose practice and practitioners are licensed and governed by law. In some English speaking countries engineering has been seen as a somewhat dry, uninteresting field in popular culture and has also been thought to be the domain of nerds.^[21] For example, the cartoon character Dilbert is an engineer. In science fiction, engineers are often portrayed as highly knowledgeable and respectable individuals who understand the overwhelming future technologies often portrayed in the genre. Several Star Trek characters are engineers. One difficulty in increasing public awareness of the profession is that average people, in the typical run of ordinary life, do not ever have any personal dealings with engineers, even though they benefit from their work every day. By contrast, it is common to visit a doctor at least once a year, the accountant at tax time, the pharmacist for drugs, and, occasionally, even a lawyer.

In companies and other organizations in the UK there is a tendency to undervalue people with advanced technological and scientific skills compared to celebrities, fashion practitioners, entertainers and managers. In his book The Mythical Man-Month,^[22] Fred Brooks Jr says that managers think of senior people as "too valuable" for technical tasks, and that management jobs carry higher prestige. He tells how some laboratories, such as Bell Labs, abolish all job titles to overcome this problem: a professional employee is a "member of the technical staff." IBM maintain a dual ladder of advancement; the corresponding managerial and engineering / scientific rungs are equivalent. Brooks recommends that structures need to be changed; the boss must give a great deal of attention to keeping his managers and his technical people as interchangeable as their talents allow.

See also[link]

Engineering portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Engineers

Look up engineer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Engineering
• Engineer's degree
• Engineers Without Borders
• Greatest Engineering Achievements
• History of engineering
• List of engineering branches
• List of engineers
• List of fictional scientists and engineers
• Washington Accord

References[link]

External links[link]

• Engineers’ competencies
• Engineers’ information behaviours
• How engineers spend their time

This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (January 2010)

Only Won (born Baldwin Chiu, May 17 in San Francisco, California) is a hip hop artist who writes, performs rap, beatboxing, singing, acting and choreographs stunt work. Only Won started rapping seriously in 1991 after being influenced by hip hop pioneers Run DMC, Will Smith, dcTalk, and T-Bone. Because he started rapping in both English and Cantonese, some consider him to be the first Chinese American bilingual rapper.^[1] "This Chinese American rapper has a refreshing and unique sound with a message born out of experience, having been in the game since '91."^[2] At one point, he was labeled the "Christian" version of "Jin the MC" until Jin became a Christian as well.

Among these things, Only Won is also a professionally licensed mechanical engineer with a PE License deeming him the "Lyrical Engineer".^[1][3] The title track of his LP (The Lyrical Engineer), provides an exposition of the life and livelihood of a professional engineer. It demonstrates Only Won's technological acumen as well as his lyrical wit and dexterity. Only Won is also a favored guest speaker at conventions, schools, and youth events challenging and encouraging the next generation to pursue their dreams and passions while maintaining an education and focus on God.^[4][5]

Signed in 2009 under Los Angeles record label, LOG Records. Only Won has appeared on JCTV and has been featured on collaboration albums. Only Won's newest release, "The Lyrical Engineer" is produced by Grammy nominated group Dynamic Twins,^[6] Billboard winner Maximillian and Larissa Lam. The music video was directed and edited by Emmy Award winning director, Marlon Jones. Only Won and Larissa Lam launched a viral music video title "Cantonese Boy"^[7] which was a parody of the Grammy winning song American Boy by Kanye West and Estelle. After being seen performing "Cantonese Boy" in Chinatown, Only Won was asked to perform at the 2010 Green Globe Film Awards as they honored Asians in film and entertainment.

Only Won (as Baldwin Chiu) is also an actor and member of SAG and appears in many feature films such as The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, xXx2: State of the Union, Twisted, and Pursuit of Happyness.^[8]

He is also an advanced level martial artists having trained under the lineage of Kanbun Uechi and Wong Doc-Fai. He is a 3 time UC Berkeley Wushu Champion in tai chi, weapons, and push hands ^[9] and teaches Tai Chi in Hollywood. He has used some of his skills in choreographing fight scenes in movies and doing stunt work for Ang Lee in the movie Hulk.^[10][11]

On April 29, 2010 California State University, Sacramento, honored high-achieving alumni at an annual award ceremony called the "Distinguished Service Awards". This is the highest recognized award for CSU Sacramento. Baldwin was recognized for his contributions in engineering, his performances as Only Won: The Lyrical Engineer and other entertainment industry endeavors as well as his work with youth.^[12] He received this award along side KXTV ABC News anchor Cristina Mendonsa.^[13][14]

On Pi_day 2012, Intel asked Only Won to be part of President Barack Obama's national campaign title, "Stay With It", designed to boost retention of students in undergraduate engineering programs.^[15]

Only Won releases[link]

Other work[link]

Tai Chiu Music was set up in 2008. After moving its location from Sacramento, CA, TCM joined forces with LOG Records and producer Larissa Lam in Los Angeles.

In 2011, Only Won released a "Geeked out" remix video of the hit song Billionaire (song) titled, "I Wanna Be An Engineer"^[16] which was a parody that reached viral status and caught the attention of CNN, Discovery Channel, The Pentagon, and FIRST Robotics Competition. This song became the anthem to those in the engineering, technology, and science community.^[17][18] It also reached No. 2 on Reddit.com on the viral hits list gaining over 400,000 views in less than 2 weeks.^{[citation needed]}

Reissues on other labels[link]

LOG Records issued the 2010 release of Only Won-The Lyrical Engineer tracks for download, through major outlets (Amazon, iTunes, CD Baby, Nimbitmusic, etc.). Also featured with Holland music collaborating with One Truth.

Filmography[link]

Awards[link]

2010 - Distinguished Service Award 1st ever Rising Star Award ^[19][20][21]

Ministries and community work[link]

Only Won has worked with the community and uses his platform as an entertainer and engineer to encourage people to continue to seek out their dreams without giving up their education.^[22] He strives to use his music to bridge a culture that needs to hear and feel the love of God.^[23]

See also[link]

• JCTV

References[link]

External links[link]

• Hear It First
• Cross Rhythms

Bruce Swedien (1998)

Bruce Swedien is a Grammy Award-winning audio engineer and music producer. He is known for his work with Quincy Jones.

Swedien is a five-time Grammy winner and has been nominated 13 times. He recorded, mixed, and assisted in producing the best-sold album in the world, Thriller by Michael Jackson. He was the primary sound engineer for Jackson's studio recordings from 1978 to 2001.

He also recorded and mixed for jazz artists such as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Quincy Jones, Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock and Jeff Oster. His pop work includes Patti Austin, Natalie Cole, Roberta Flack, Mick Jagger, Jennifer Lopez, Paul McCartney, Diana Ross, Rufus, Chaka Khan, Barbra Streisand, Donna Summer, Sarah Vaughan, and the zouk band Kassav'. He worked on the scores for Night Shift, The Color Purple and Running Scared.

On 10 November 2001, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophy from the Luleå University of Technology, Sweden for his achievements as a sound engineer. Swedien also held "masterclasses" at the Swedish National Radio for practicing sound engineers.

Swedien is notable for pioneering the 'Acusonic Recording Process' which involves pairing up microphones together on vocals and instruments when making recordings. This achieved an enhanced roomy ambient sound, some of which is evident on albums produced in collaboration with Quincy Jones on tracks such as "Sounds And Stuff Like That!!", George Benson's "Give Me the Night", and the Michael Jackson albums he worked on.

References[link]

• Swedien, Bruce (2003). Make Mine Music. Norway: MIA Musikk. ISBN 82-996756-1-8.
• Swedien, Bruce (2009). In the studio with Michael Jackson. New York: Hal Leonard Books. ISBN 978-1-4234-6495-2.

External links[link]

• In The Studio with Bruce Swedien
• Archived interview with Mr. Bonzai, November 2006
• Bruce Swedien on Recording, Mixing Michael Jackson
• Bruce Swedien Interview
• Swedien Works With Jennifer Lopez
• Bruce Swedien On Recording Jennifer Lopez
• Bruce Swedien - Microphones Master Class
• An Incredible New Sound for Engineers
• Bruce Swedien's Autobiography 'Make Mine Music'
• Bruce Swedien discusses Jeff Oster

This biographical article related to music is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

A software engineer is an engineer who applies the principles of software engineering to the design, development, testing, and evaluation of the software and systems that make computers or anything containing software work.

Overview[link]

Prior to the mid-1960s, software practitioners called themselves computer programmers or software developers, regardless of their actual jobs. Many people prefer to call themselves software developer and programmer, because most widely agree what these terms mean, while software engineer is still being debated. A prominent computing scientist, E. W. Dijkstra, wrote in a paper that the coining of the term software engineer was not useful since it was an inappropriate analogy, "The existence of the mere term has been the base of a number of extremely shallow—and false—analogies, which just confuse the issue...Computers are such exceptional gadgets that there is good reason to assume that most analogies with other disciplines are too shallow to be of any positive value, are even so shallow that they are only confusing."^[1]

The term programmer has often been used as a pejorative term to refer to those without the tools, skills, education, or ethics to write good quality software. In response, many practitioners called themselves software engineers to escape the stigma attached to the word programmer. In many companies, the titles programmer and software developer were changed to software engineer, for many categories of programmers.

These terms cause confusion, because some denied any differences (arguing that everyone does essentially the same thing with software) while others use the terms to create a difference (because the terms mean completely different jobs).

A state of the art[link]

In 2004, Keith Chapple of the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 760,840 software engineers holding jobs in the U.S.; in the same period there were some 1.4 million practitioners employed in the U.S. in all other engineering disciplines combined.^[2] The label software engineer is used very liberally in the corporate world. Very few of the practicing software engineers actually hold Engineering degrees from accredited universities. In fact, according to the Association for Computing Machinery, "most people who now function in the U.S. as serious software engineers have degrees in computer science, not in software engineering". See also Controversies over the term Engineer.

Regulatory classification[link]

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies computer software engineers as a subcategory of "computer specialists", along with occupations such as computer scientist, programmer, and network administrator.^[3] The BLS classifies all other engineering disciplines, including computer hardware engineers, as "engineers".^[4]

The U.K. has seen the alignment of the Information Technology Professional and the Engineering Professionals.^[5]

Software engineering in Canada has seen some contests in the courts over the use of the title "Software Engineer".^[6] The Canadian Council of Professional Engineers (C.C.P.E. or "Engineers Canada") will not grant a "Professional Engineer" status/license to anyone who has not completed a recognized academic engineering program.^{[citation needed]} Engineers qualified outside Canada are similarly unable to obtain a "Professional Engineer" license.^[7] Since 2001, the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board has accredited several university programs in software engineering,^[8] allowing graduates to apply for a professional engineering licence once the other prerequisites are obtained, although this does nothing to help IT professionals using the title with degrees in other fields (such as computer science).

Some of the states in the United States regulate the use of terms such as "computer engineer" and even "software engineer". These states include Texas^[9] and Florida.^[10]

Education[link]

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (November 2010)

About half of all practitioners today have degrees in computer science, information systems, or information technology. A small, but growing, number of practitioners have software engineering degrees. In 1987, Imperial College London introduced the first three-year software engineering Bachelor's degree in the UK and the world; in the following year, the University of Sheffield established a similar programme.^[11] In 1996, the Rochester Institute of Technology established the first software engineering Bachelor's degree program in the United States, however, it did not obtain ABET accreditation until 2003, the same time as Rice University, Clarkson University, Milwaukee School of Engineering and Mississippi State University obtained theirs.^[12] In 1997, PSG College of Technology in Coimbatore, India was the first to start a five-year integrated Master of Science degree in Software Engineering.^{[citation needed]}

Since then, software engineering undergraduate degrees have been established at many universities. A standard international curriculum for undergraduate software engineering degrees was recently^[when?] defined by the CCSE. As of 2004^[update], in the U.S., about 50 universities offer software engineering degrees, which teach both computer science and engineering principles and practices. The first software engineering Master's degree was established at Seattle University in 1979. Since then graduate software engineering degrees have been made available from many more universities. Likewise in Canada, the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers has recognized several software engineering programs.

In 1998, the US Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) established the first doctorate program in Software Engineering in the world.^{[citation needed]} Additionally, many online advanced degrees in Software Engineering have appeared such as the Master of Science in Software Engineering (MSE) degree offered through the Computer Science and Engineering Department at California State University, Fullerton. Steve McConnell opines that because most universities teach computer science rather than software engineering, there is a shortage of true software engineers.^[13] ETS University and UQAM were mandated by IEEE to develop the SoftWare Engineering BOdy of Knowledge SWEBOK, which has become an ISO standard describing the body of knowledge covered by a software engineer^{[citation needed]}.

Other degrees[link]

In business, some software engineering practitioners have MIS or computer information systems degrees. In embedded systems, some have electrical engineering, computer science with emphasis in "embedded systems" or computer engineering degrees, because embedded software often requires a detailed understanding of hardware. In medical software, practitioners may have medical informatics, general medical, or biology degrees.^{[citation needed]}

Some practitioners have mathematics, science, engineering, or technology degrees. Some have philosophy (logic in particular) or other non-technical degrees.^{[citation needed]}For instance, Barry Boehm earned degrees in mathematics. And, others have no degrees.^{[citation needed]}

Profession[link]

Employment[link]

Most software engineers work as employees or contractors. Software engineers work with businesses, government agencies (civilian or military), and non-profit organizations. Some software engineers work for themselves as freelancers. Some organizations have specialists to perform each of the tasks in the software development process. Other organizations required software engineers to do many or all of them. In large projects, people may specialize in only one role. In small projects, people may fill several or all roles at the same time. Specializations include: in industry (analysts, architects, developers, testers, technical support, managers) and in academia (educators, researchers).

There is considerable debate over the future employment prospects for Software Engineers and other IT Professionals. For example, an online futures market called the Future of IT Jobs in America attempts to answer whether there will be more IT jobs, including software engineers, in 2012 than there were in 2002.

Certification[link]

Professional certification of software engineers is a contentious issue.^{[citation needed]} Some see it as a tool to improve professional practice.^{[citation needed]}

Most successful certification programs in the software industry are oriented toward specific technologies, and are managed by the vendors of these technologies.^{[citation needed]} These certification programs are tailored to the institutions that would employ people who use these technologies.

The ACM had a professional certification program in the early 1980s, which was discontinued due to lack of interest.^[14] As of 2006^[update], the IEEE had certified over 575 software professionals.^[15] In Canada the Canadian Information Processing Society has developed a legally recognized professional certification called Information Systems Professional (ISP).^[16]

Impact of globalization[link]

Many students in the developed world have avoided degrees related to software engineering because of the fear of offshore outsourcing (importing software products or services from other countries) and of being displaced by foreign visa workers.^[17] Although government statistics do not currently show a threat to software engineering itself; a related career, computer programming does appear to have been affected.^[18][19] Often one is expected to start out as a computer programmer before being promoted to software engineer. Thus, the career path to software engineering may be rough, especially during recessions.

Some career counselors suggest a student also focus on "people skills" and business skills rather than purely technical skills because such "soft skills" are allegedly more difficult to offshore.^[20] It is the quasi-management aspects of software engineering that appear to be what has kept it from being impacted by globalization.^[21]

Prizes[link]

There are several prizes in the field of software engineering:^[22]

• The CODiE awards is a yearly award issued by the Software and Information Industry Association for excellence in software development within the software industry.
• Jolt Awards are awards in the software industry.
• Stevens Award is a software engineering award given in memory of Wayne Stevens.

Use of the title "Engineer"[link]

Suitability of the term[link]

Typical formal definitions of software engineering are:

• "the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software".^[23]
• "an engineering discipline that is concerned with all aspects of software production"^[24]
• "the establishment and use of sound engineering principles in order to economically obtain software that is reliable and works efficiently on real machines"^[25]

The term has been used less formally:

• as the informal contemporary term for the broad range of activities that were formerly called programming and systems analysis;^[26]
• as the broad term for all aspects of the practice of computer programming, as opposed to the theory of computer programming, which is called computer science;^[27]
• as the term embodying the advocacy of a specific approach to computer programming, one that urges that it be treated as an engineering discipline rather than an art or a craft, and advocates the codification of recommended practices.^[28]

Many people believe that software engineering implies a certain level of academic training, professional discipline, adherence to formal processes, and especially legal liability that often are not applied in cases of software development. A common analogy is that working in construction does not make one a civil engineer, and so writing code does not make one a software engineer. It is disputed by some — in particular by the Canadian Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) body, that the field is not mature enough to warrant the title "engineering". The PEO disputed that "software engineering" was not an appropriate name for the field since those who practiced in the field and called themselves "software engineers" were not properly licensed professional engineers, and that they should therefore not be allowed to use the name.^[29]

In each of the last few decades, at least one radical new approach has entered the mainstream of software development (e.g. Structured Programming, Object Orientation), implying that the field is still changing too rapidly to be considered an engineering discipline. Proponents argue that the supposedly radical new approaches are evolutionary rather than revolutionary.^{[citation needed]}

Individual commentators have disagreed sharply on how to define software engineering or its legitimacy as an engineering discipline. David Parnas has said that software engineering is, in fact, a form of engineering.^[30][31] Steve McConnell has said that it is not, but that it should be.^[32] Donald Knuth has said that programming is an art and a science.^[33] Edsger W. Dijkstra claimed that the terms software engineering and software engineer have been misused, particularly in the United States.^[34]

Regulatory classification[link]

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies computer software engineers as a subcategory of "computer specialists", along with occupations such as computer scientist, programmer, and network administrator.^[3] The BLS classifies all other engineering disciplines, including computer hardware engineers, as "engineers".^[4]