Effective influence

The blurb for the e-petition is: "Engineering suffers from an image problem. People believe that engineers simply fix things, but we don't: we invent things. "Unfortunately, the false image is propagated by hundreds of companies out there who term repair-persons and equipment installers 'engineers'....It is thus proposed that the title 'engineer' is protected legally, like 'doctor' or 'architect'. It would be restricted to those who are professional engineers or product designers, or those who have retired from the industry." Individuals can already register with the Engineering Council as: a Chartered Engineer (CEng); Incorporated Engineer (IEng); Engineering Technician (EngTech); or Information and Communications Technology Technician (ICTTech). An ICTTech is defined as covering "software or system installation, operation, maintenance, incident/change/problem management, administration, security, fault diagnosis and fixing". And an EngTech similarly includes activities that take in fixing/maintaining things. These two technical levels would seem to be excluded from the suggested protected status. The CEng and IEng do not take in a 'fixing things' role, with a CEng requiring a degree and an IEng requiring an HNC or HND as a minimum, but which could also be associated a degree. Appropriate experience goes along side, too. So some of those who are currently engineers, according to the Engineering Council (the IEngs), may not be able to call themselves such, if the term were protected in line with the petition, which seems to imply a degree-level qualification. Since many engineering apprenticeships lead to HNC/HND level qualifications, this is not helpful. But, regardless of what people call themselves, it is what other people call them/refer to them as that is at issue. I am certain that the BBC or ITV or Sky News presenters, or their copywriters, will still describe downed power lines as being repaired by engineers. There is, of course, already much good work at grass roots level to provide positive influence – the Imagineering Fair and its associated school clubs, F1 in Schools, plus the 'Yes Programme', to name but three. Signing an online petition is easy and might make you feel good; sustained commitment at grass roots level is more difficult, but ultimately likely to have more influence, Machinery suggests. First published in Machinery, September 2012