And these are engineers…

In response to the letter from

Tony Gutteridge entitled ‘Can I ask a question’, I offer the following: “Who or what is an engineer?” I agree the term engineer is one of the most misused terms we have today.

Within the engineering profession covering all disciplines of engineer from mechanical, electrical, structural, civil, etc., there are three levels: chartered, incorporated and technician, chartered being the higher, more qualified level and generally termed ‘professional’, like a doctor or lawyer.

There are other professions where the above doesn’t apply, one example being marine engineers who have a different qualification route, a chief engineer being equivalent to a chartered engineer.

People working at ‘trade’, e.g. fitter, turner, maintenance, etc., are generally qualified to technician level. So the person who turns up to fix your TV or washing machine is a technician not an engineer!

I am an engineer at chartered level but gained that status via a trade route, not through a university degree, so I have trade skills (fitting, electrical, machine tools use, welding) for example.

However, I have known a lot of fully qualified engineers who couldn’t put a nut on straight, let alone restore a classic motorcycle!

So, in relation to the question posed by Tony Gutteridge, if an advertisement for a classic bike states ‘restored by an engineer’, it means nothing unless you know the background and skill level of the person restoring the bike.

Having said all of that, I’ve seen some very good restorations by people without any trade or engineering background, they are mainly self-taught and have an aptitude for the job. I hope this helps clarify the issue. Larry Heslop