What is the difference between engineering and engineering technician?

	What is the difference between engineering and engineering technician? I was looking at college majors and one said engineering general and another said engineering technician. What is the difference? Asked By: MJ - 6/17/2008

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I work for one of the World's largest EPC Companies. We have both Engineers and Field Engineers. Most of what the others have said is true and some sound more like pencil pushers tooting their little horns. As for my Company the Field Engineer is considered the client to Engineering, basically their designing for the FE to install, start-up and operate. The intent is a high quality design that fits and works first time, obviously much to some of their surprise, Engineers are also human and errors in design are common I'm a Lead Field Engineer,,, Obviously, I work in the field, this is where it all comes together. Technically, I'm the Engineer in the field. I oversee the installation of varies systems and at times I've had +250 people working directly for me. My responsibilities varies from spending countless hours on the phone with Engineers reviewing their design, interpreting design (the 2D to 3D transition can sometimes be very screwy, for some reason Engineers seem to have a hard time with this, the "Paper to Reality Paradox"), resolving conflicts between design disciplines (for some reason these Engineers seat across from one another and don't even speak), issue design changes (the Engineering Dah Factor), perform constructability reviews, manage manhours, deal with labor issues, schedule issues, weather, system start-up, vendors, so on so forth. As for pay,,, I fall pretty much inline with the Engineers, some make more others make less. It all depends on years of service. There's several factors you need to look at 1. What type of person are you? Hands on or off? I'm a hands on guy, I want to be in the field where it all comes together, I'll let the offices guys do all the calcs, Cad, and paper stuff (boring if you ask me) 2. The Company you work for definitely has a bearing on your pay. Some value the field guys, some value the Engineer and others value both. 3. Depends on you,,,what type of person are you? A go getter done type, a follower, a hider or just plain lost. Trust me this has a major impact on your future, you can either ride the system and acheive the minimal or take the system by the hand and twist it for max. Now the choice is totally up to you.... Which path to take. Engineering definitely more indepth studies and beleive me I've met some great Engineers, guys who really know their stuff and design what was thought to be impossible. Future problem... Outsourceing,, more and more companies are outsourcing their engineering to India, China, etc. Tech Engineer, allot less indepth study, more of a broader range of abilities when it comes to the hands on installation. I've worked with some of the best in this field. And we have built the impossible designs. Definitely can't outsource this job if built in the US. Good Luck Answered By: Bobbys_life - 6/17/2008

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Most engineers will either be doing paper work and doing the math problems of the design concepts while the technician will only follow the procedure that the engineer told them what to do. Which one do you want to be? Answered By: bushidomike - 6/17/2008

Design - Engineers are responsible for designing the items. - Engineering technicians are responsible for drawing, testing, estimating and all the other work that brings the engineer's idea to life. Engineers also can do this kind of work and often do. The design is the most important part and that requires the engineer to calculate if it can work, what the best approach is and how to do it. They get the most responsibility and so the higher pay. The technician works for the engineer and is basically his assistant who helps to make the engineer's idea come to life. Answered By: Dan S - 6/17/2008

Hey I am Kumar and I am doing Engineering. I will try convincing you with the idea and knowledge I have got:- Engineering - It refers to the honors course which leads of professional, accredited and managerial degree which allows you get the depth knowledge of subject matter with lot of hands on experience, industry experience and theory lessons with some modules of management.. which ultimately helps to grow in virtually any field in career. Engineering Technician is nothing much a diploma degree where a person restricts himself in small tub of knowledge for kind of fixing things at a very basic level and as the technology advances the same will prove to be fatal because technician can't grow and move with the ever changing technology and scenarios. Hope it helps. Kumar Answered By: kaushik - 6/17/2008

If you are getting a 2 year technician or 3 year technologist diploma from a college, you can gain employment building or fixing things that have already been designed, and if public safety is involved, you would be supervised by an engineer. Where public safety is not affected, you might be free to do design work too. If you get a 4 year bachelor's degree in Engineering from a University, you then have the academic requirements for an Engineering License, which permits you to design things that have an impact on public safety, and entitles you to supervise their construction. Source(s): B.Eng. Answered By: David F - 6/17/2008

An engineer will design things, calculate, do the thinking part. The engineering technician will do the labor part where he will follow the engineer's instructions. Look at it this way: Engineer = boss. Engineer Technician = employee. Source(s): Electrical Engineer and Computer Scientist. EECS. Answered By: myfiles123 - 6/17/2008

An engineering technician learns technical information that allows them to create engineering documentation such as technical drawings or interpret engineering documentation to assemble or coordinate the assembly of an engineered system or device. They have the practical technical know-how to basically "speak engineer". The focus is on applying the tools, methods, standards and technology of the day. General engineering is often offered at schools that do not specialize in engineering. This gives you some engineering oriented coursework without concentrating on a particular discipline. This may include higher math and science as well as programming (software). In contrast, a bachelor of science level degree in an engineering discipline requires significant mastery of high level math such as numerical analysis, high level physics, and in depth system analysis. The focus is on the underlying physical effects that dictate how the physical world behaves. The focus is on understanding how and why. This allows the engineer to find solutions to unsolved problems. Source(s): BSEE Answered By: MIDIhead - 6/17/2008

Everyone's answer above is good, but it can be as simple as this: Engineer = white collar Engineer tech = blue collar (probably associated with a union) Now I know there are exceptions to this rule (i.e. a manufacturing engineer isn't really an engineer!), but this is what I've witnessed being an aerospace engineer for 2 years. Answered By: burnside 2020 - 6/17/2008

Engineering Technician is an Associate Degree (2 years). Engineer is a Bachelor's Degree (4-years). Engineers make much more money and engage in more challenging and appealing work, though the technician's work does involve the development of technical skills to a very refined level. It's a matter of how long you want to stay in college. Source(s): old scientist Answered By: aviophage - 6/17/2008

Engineering technican uses tool to build or repair thing. He earns much lower pay than a engineer,but he has more chance to get a job. Becuase a company needs many technican but only one engineer. Engineer usually does not need to use tool to fix thing unless he is a very good engineer. Most engineer sits in his office to do his work. His earning at least double than a technican. Answered By: lee26loo - 6/17/2008

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