What is the difference between engineers and technologist?

1. Engineering is the application of science to the needs of humanity. This is

accomplished through knowledge, mathematics and practical experience applied to the
design of useful objects or processes. Its practitioners are called engineers.
2. Engineers form the bridge between the two distinct worlds of the scientist and the
layman. They interpret science for the layman. A scientist asks Why? and thus follows
an open ended research career, whereas an engineer always asks How?. That is, he
has the problem in hand, knows what solution it requires and tries to find out different ways
of implementing it.
3. There is a difference between an engineer and a technologist through the terms are
often used interchangeably. Once an engineer has found a solution for the problem at hand
his work stops. The next phase is fine-tuning the solution, which is in the domain of the
technologist. This process is dependent on various factors which vary with time. A solution
which could be a practical application of a scientific fact does not satisfy a technologist. He
endeavours to bring it within the economic constraints so that the common man not only
understands and marvels at science but also is able to enjoy it and lose his fear of it by
constant interaction.
4. For example, when Edison developed the phonograph it was marveled at. That was
engineering. But when he asked his assistant to develop it further so as to remove some
harmonics from the sound that was technology. Because only then could one listen to it and
enjoy.
5. This also explains the time gap between a fact being understood by science, then
being implemented by engineers, and then being available from the local shop.
Why is engineering a contingent enterprise?
6. The engineer must identify and understand the relevant constraints in order to
produce a successful design. Constraints include available resources, physical or technical
limitations, flexibility for future modifications and additions, and other factors such as
requirements for cost, manufacturability, serviceability, and marketing and aesthetic
considerations. By understanding the constraints, engineers deduce specifications for the
limits within which an object or system may be produced and operated. Engineering is
therefore a contingent enterprise influenced by many considerations.
How do engineers solve problems?
7. Engineers use their knowledge of science and mathematics, and appropriate
experience, to find suitable solutions to a problem. Creating an appropriate mathematical
model of a problem allows them to analyze it (perhaps, but exceptionally, definitively) and
to test potential solutions. If multiple reasonable solutions exist, engineers evaluate the
different design choices on their merits and choose the solution that best meets the
requirements.
8. Engineers typically attempt to predict how well their designs will perform to their
specifications prior to full-scale production. They use, among other things: prototypes, scale
models, simulations, destructive tests and stress tests. Testing ensures that products will
perform as expected. Engineers as professionals take seriously their responsibility to
produce designs that will perform as expected and will not cause unintended harm to the
public at large. Engineers typically include a factor of safety in their designs to reduce the
risk of unexpected failure.
What is the etymology of the word engineer?
9. It is a myth that engineer originated to describe those who built engines. In fact, the
words engine and engineer (as well as ingenious) developed in parallel from the Latin root
ingeniosus, meaning skilled. An engineer is thus a clever, practical, problem solver. The
spelling of engineer was later influenced by back-formation from engine. The term later
evolved to include all fields where the skills of application of the scientific method are used.
In other languages like Arabic, the word for engineering also means geometry.
How is engineering connected to other disciplines?

10.
Science attempts to explain newly observed and unexplained phenomena,
often creating mathematical models of observed phenomena. Technology and engineering
are attempts at practical application of knowledge (often from science). Scientists work on
science; engineers work on technology. However, there is often an overlap between science
and engineering. It is not uncommon for scientists to become involved in the practical
application of their discoveries; thereby becoming, for the moment, engineers. Conversely,
in the process of developing technology engineers sometimes find themselves exploring
new phenomena, thus becoming, for the moment, scientists.
11.
There are also close connections between the workings of engineers and
artists; they are direct in some fields, e.g. architecture and industrial design, and indirect in
all. Artistic and engineering creativity may be fundamentally connected.
12.
Thus modern engineering includes technology, but is also concerned with
development and understanding of technological systems and the products, affects and
appropriateness of technology. It is also concerned with non-technological approaches.
13.
Technical engineering is the activity of transforming and transporting:
1) materials and forces of nature;
2) energy and information, which are technical measures of utility.
This statement excludes reference to value and method. To complete our understanding
of modern engineering, we should identify its values, its societal and environmental
objectives and its tools.
What are engineering values?
14.
In a sense engineering has no values is value neutral. Technically,
engineering can be equally employed for destructive as well as good purposes. This
attitude is found and bred in an atmosphere of extreme specialization and technical
competition.
15.
However, it is widely recognized that in many areas modern civilization is
close to or has exceeded the carrying ability of the environment and the planet. Technical
competition has bred unhealthy and hostile social environments. Hence it is now commonly
accepted that engineers and engineering must be concerned with value.
16.
Minerals and other materials, energy, the physical environment water, land,
air, space and the social environment, are valuable resources. Their preservation is
important. It is no longer valid to simply regard human beings as the users of the
environment. Individuals, society and the environment are a system of mutual interactions.
It is the system which is to be understood and preserved. In some future era, perhaps not in
the distant future, we will be concerned with preservation of the solar system and beyond.
17.
Even when technology is used for good, there can be unforeseen ill effects.
The engineer needs to understand the capacity of the environment. Not all effects can be
predicted. The engineer must look out for effects of technology: awareness is essential.
18.
Not only should the engineer be concerned that natural resources and
environmental quality be preserved, but the products of engineering should contribute to
the beauty of human environment. Lovins has pointed out how properly designed
landscapes can enhance harmony and carrying ability. The engineer must be a practical
architect and an artist.
19.
An engineer concerned with social design should also be concerned with
practical philosophy. Humans evolved as nomads and we probably still retain a nomadic
nature. It is not necessary to seek a return to the nomadic life. However, we can recognize
human fundamental ability to accept the power of natural forces and the arbitrary element
of natural phenomena. It is costly in not just an economic sense, but also in a spiritual
sense to design for one hundred percent security. One hundred percent design cuts humans
off from themselves and their environment. One hundred percent design increases
uniformity, reduces variability, creativity, and hence adaptability.
20.
Communication is important. Interesting, brief, organized presentation has
immediate appeal. The modern dry style of technical communication is unnecessary.
Accuracy and regard for foundations and value make information really useful. Poetry of
form and value can transform an audience to action, and enhances engineering as an
enjoyable activity.