The UNESCO report on “Engineering: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities for Development” described the general perception of an engineer in the South Pacific as in Samoa, and the same may well apply to other nations, the term engineer is generally taken to mean, say, a car mechanic or somebody that carries a pair of pliers in their back pocket.
People know what a teacher does, what a lawyer does, what a medical doctor does, what an accountant does and what a policeman does.
When you mention the word “engineer”, the same people hesitate and sometimes ask ‘can you fix my car’.
This is a key challenge for the engineering profession in the islands of the Pacific and we must inform people what it is that engineers do”.
The above report was published in 2010, but unfortunately, the perception has not changed much and people still expect our engineers to perform the tasks meant for technicians.
When we first got feedback from some of the employers that “your engineer” is not able to fix or repair a non-functional machine or device, we were surprised. We had and still have a tough time explaining to many employers that engineers are not trained to fix or repair machines or devices.
That is the job of technicians. Another complaint that we received from some employers is that your engineer is asking for an office and a PC. He should be out in the workshop or in the field working with other people.
Again, we had to explain to them that everywhere, engineers are given an office and a PC and their job description has to be different from that of technicians.
A bigger issue faced by our engineers are in terms of pay – many employers offer them pay packages not much different from those of technicians. The country is now producing professional engineers for some years now. Both USP and FNU are offering professional four-year degree programs in various disciplines of engineering.
The two programs offered by USP: B.E. in Mechanical Engineering and B.E. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering are accredited by Engineers NZ as per Washington accord and are recognised and accepted by all those countries that have signed this accord.
In this article, I would like to clearly explain the difference between an engineer and a technician.
An engineer is required to apply his knowledge of basic sciences and engineering concepts to identify, formulate, analyse and solve complex engineering problems and to design solutions to such problems and design systems and devices to meet the specific needs of the society. Engineers know the science behind engineering much better than technicians.
This knowledge comes with a degree in Engineering, which normally requires four years at a university after at least 12 years of schooling.
Within a number of industries globally, there are two terms used to describe different types of jobs – engineers and technicians. Technicians are the “doers” and are always “on the go”.
They are workers who perform a specific task. They generally follow procedures and carry out the tasks assigned to them by doctors and engineers. Every area of science has its own technicians who perform a very specific task.
Within the healthcare industry there are ultrasound technicians, X-ray technicians etc. An automobile technician will fix your car and an electrical technician will fix an electrical wiring problem in your house.
Engineers, on the other hand, are trained to design, analyse systems, devices and equipment and test them for performance. Depending on their field, engineers can manage design projects, construction projects, evaluate and test ideas and theories, and analyse remote systems such as satellites.
A mechanical engineer can design a refrigerator or an air conditioner, but a technician cannot. Engineers also involve in research, development, design, and creation. These engineers also test and re-test a variety of devices that may include engines, components, tools, or machines for their performance.
Overall, they usually work in offices, but may also visit work sites when necessary. The engineering graduate typically requires a period of internship since engineering programs stress theory and concepts.
One of the factors that differentiates an engineer from a technician that an engineer will sometimes say “stop”.
They have the skills to take a step back and see beyond the problem that is posed to them. An engineer may stop to ask himself “will installing this new component be in the best interest of the client, or is there a better option” or “we have been fixing the same problem again and again, we should stop to figure out why it keeps happening”.
Thus, an engineer can see the bigger picture; he can see not only the problem at hand, but the probable condition of a system or device ten years down the line, and will start working on different possible solutions that will not only fix the problem at hand, but will improve the life and performance of the system or device.
A technician on the other hand, gets training on how to fix a problem, and then when that problem is presented to him by a client, he follows the steps he learnt to fix the issue.
Well-trained technicians are normally very good at what they do. They can identify what is the issue on the ground, and with their knowledge and experience gained during/after their training, can fix the issue. In a sense, a technician is always in the “go” mode; he is in a good position to solve the problem in front of them and is always ready to fix client issues.
It must be pointed out here that there is a significant difference in terms of educational background of engineers and technicians; the curriculum of most engineering fields includes classes in basic sciences and mathematics and then a large number of classes in their field of engineering in order to develop analytical and problem-solving, and the conceptual and design skills of future graduates.
Engineers spend more years studying, and understand more of the theoretical concepts of a design and its implementation, including designing circuits, or mechanical components of systems, selecting components for a system, designing prototypes, programing, and optimising systems and devices.
Also, engineers can acquire a bachelor’s, a master’s or a doctoral degree in their respective fields. Engineers in various disciplines are in demand across a broad range of industries.
For instance, civil and structural engineers are in demand in the construction industry. Mechanical engineers are in demand in refrigeration and air conditioning, energy and manufacturing industries.
Mechanical engineers are the generalists of the engineering arena and may have their fingers in a lot of pies. Electrical and Electronics Engineers are in demand in the power industry, semiconductor and other electronic components manufacturing industry, and network and communication industry.
Chemical engineers are in demand in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and food processing industries. In short, engineers use their mathematical and scientific skills to solve problems, prevent problems from happening, and design and develop products and entire systems and sometimes need to work in teams on large design projects.
Engineers with higher qualifications develop new technologies to revolutionise many of the important sectors that can improve the quality of life.
For example, R & D engineers are designing variety of wind turbines and other renewable energy harvesting devices.
Technicians carry out most of the practical work and do not need to know most of the science behind any device to do their job; they normally need to know the methods and procedures clearly. Some industries need very specialised and better-educated technical people with a reasonably background in basic sciences and engineering concepts – they are known as technologists.
The main difference between an engineer and a technician is that one designs and makes products (engineers) and the other works on them to check for flaws which may arise in the future when the product is out in the market.
Engineers and technicians have some similarities, but are not the same as they are trained to do different jobs.
If a ceiling fan is not working, the engineer asks the technician to check the wiring, regulator and the fan; the technician performs all these checks and finds that the wiring on motor’s stator is damaged.
A technician is skilled enough to perform such tasks but doesn’t know the exact science behind how the stuff really works i.e how the electrons move in the circuit. It’s the engineer who knows such things.
Technicians typically understand the functional details of systems, how to operate them and what to do when a system is not functioning as it should, including, how to repair them, carry out maintenance, and replace non-functional components.
A particle image velocimetry system designed by engineers.
Typical responsibilities of an engineer include:
- Lead the work of preparation of product definitions and specifications;
- Determine the quality of a product by quality of design, quality of process and quality of conformance;
- Calculate the details for building materials and the labor requirements and determine the total cost to see if it falls within the budget of the project;
- Create and test prototypes;
- Design power-machines like engines, generators and turbines;
- Conduct experiments on a newly designed engine and estimate its efficiency at different loads;
- Run simulations to check if systems work together properly;
- Research and advise about new potential developments and innovation opportunities; and
- Preparing technical reports on completed projects.
Technicians may be tasked with drafting rough layouts based on the engineers’ descriptions. Technicians could be asked to record testing information and compile the data for a new device. They might also contribute to cost estimation for labor and materials on a project.
Typical responsibilities of a technician include:
- Measure dimensions on a drafting sketch for accuracy check;
- Use software to create the process of putting parts together;
- Assist Manager with preventative maintenance scheduling, equipment history and record keeping;
- Install hardware components on a device;
- Install and service a HVAC system with its components including duct work;
- Start a machine and inspect it for signs of malfunctioning such as vibrations, noise etc;
- Work with engineers to make production run smoothly; and
- Repair a machine if it starts giving trouble.
- Prof M. R. Ahmed is employed as a Professor of mechanical engineering at the University of the South Pacific. He is also the program leader of mechanical engineering. The views expressed are his and does not reflect the views of this newspaper.
