• Question: in your own words what is a engineer

    Asked by THE MAN to Aisling, Colin, Laurence, Ned, Niamh on 28 Feb 2016.
    • Photo: Ned Dwyer

      Ned Dwyer answered on 28 Feb 2016:

      Gosh, I don´t theink there is an easy or a sinple definition. I don´t necessarily like putting everything in a box. If I define an engineer as A and a music composer as B, then it can be heard to understand you can have a person with a little bit of both. However, I know that is a wishy washy answer, so if you force me to answer it, I would say and engineer is someone that is curious about how the world works and they tend to have a logical and methodological approach to solving problems. They tend to have a certain interest in mathematics and they go abut solving problems in a step by step way. I think engineers are interested in finding a practical solution to a problem and not just being able to develop a theory. I did one of those online quizez the other day which tested if I was more digital/logical or imaginiative. I came out as 66% logical and 34% immaginitative, so like most engineers I am a mixed bag – thankfully!

    • Photo: Colin Shirran

      Colin Shirran answered on 28 Feb 2016:

      I think an engineer is typically someone who is very interested in how things work, analytical and logical in the way they think. However, these are just common similarities and I wouldn’t like to put everyone into one box and say that is the only way it can be. So if you have a general interest in how things work then there is nothing stopping you in becoming an engineer. Everything else can be learned along the way.

    • Photo: Aisling Shannon

      Aisling Shannon answered on 29 Feb 2016:

      These questions are tough! An engineer can be so many things, but in general an engineer takes the idea (whether it is from a scientists theory, or an entrepreneurs vision) and helps to make it a reality. And then probably continues to look after it and fine tune it for as long as they are allowed!

    • Photo: Laurence O'Rourke

      Laurence O'Rourke answered on 29 Feb 2016:

      Great question – there are many answers and I can see the ones from the others are really good. Let me try one which looks at it differently. In my view, an engineer is someone who is an expert in the rules and constraints (limits) existing in the area she or he is working in but is not held back by them, choosing to push those limits to new extremes. Innovation, inventions, new concepts all come about because an engineer realises that what is existing can always be improved.

      So does that make you an engineer? Well you tell me.

Comments