Engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limitations imposed by practicality, regulation, safety and cost. The word engineer (Latin ingeniator) is derived from the Latin words ingeniare ("to contrive, devise") and ingenium ("cleverness"). The foundational qualifications of a licensed professional engineer typically include a four-year bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline, or in some jurisdictions, a master's degree in an engineering discipline plus four to six years of peer-reviewed professional practice (culminating in a project report or thesis) and passage of engineering board examinations.
Mechanical engineer Joel Steinkraus and systems engineer Farah Alibay (right) from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory hold a full-scale mockup of Mars Cube One | |
| Occupation | |
|---|---|
| Names | Engineer |
Occupation type | Profession |
Activity sectors | Applied science |
| Description | |
| Competencies | Mathematics, science, design, analysis, critical thinking, engineering ethics, project management, engineering economics, creativity, problem solving, (See also: Glossary of engineering) |
Education required | Engineering education |
Fields of employment | Research and development, industry, business |
Related jobs | Scientist, architect, project manager, inventor, astronaut |
The work of engineers forms the link between scientific discoveries and their subsequent applications to human and business needs and quality of life.