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This is precisely why engineers in Canada have both a professional association and what was deemed to be a "suitably dignified" Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer that was devised by Rudyard Kipling in response to the Québec Bridge disaster in 1907 due to faulty engineering.

The purpose of the ritual is to establish the engineer's tri-fold obligation to society, their employer and themselves. The Iron Ring is the symbol and constant reminder of the engineer's obligation to society.

Software Engineers from any of the newly accredited B.Eng programmes in the discipline of Software go through the same ritual and are licensed under the same governing body.

Dan.

http://www.ironring.ca/

After following your link, I see that you have linked to the American organization. The original iron ring ceremony is referred to as the Ritual of the Calling of Engineer where qualified individuals take the obligation which was written by the late great Rudyard Kipling. The American version of the ceremony and ring was later derived from the Canadian. I'm not sure what the American rings look like, but the Canadian iron rings are faceted and appears identical no matter what way it is worn. With time, the facets wear down and symbolize how the rough edges of young engineer are worn away with experience. I'm proud to wear mine, but also serves as a constant reminder of my duty to the public.

As for being unable to draw at all, this is a system for design engineers. As I understand it, design engineers take mechanical drawing. Computers are great for final plans, but you still need drawing skills for the concept sketches, yes? No?

The very first ideas might be sketched with pen and paper, but after that it's way easier to design it in CAD, raffining parts as the details are worked out. That way, you don't have to resketch completely a part because you need it in two different parts to be assembled rather than a whole one, or for whatever better reasons. Of course, you don't do the layouts (the technical drawings actually used to manufacture the part) until the details are worked out so as not to redo them 2 or 3 times, but the first use of any modern CAD software is 3d modeling, where the part takes form. And that is way more powerful than pen and paper.

Somebody used to twist his ring...

Don't forget, in Canada we get a cool iron ring.

I believe it's called the Iron Ring ceremony everywhere. Shorely someone is confused, as Rudyard Kipling was the author of the ceremony.

Also, this Computer and Software Engineering seems to be part of McMaster's engineering department, as opposed to a misnamed Computer Science degree.

-legolas

Until I complete a 4-5 year 'appenticeship' under another Professional Engineer I will only say I have an Engineering Degree.

As an article of interest, in Canada if someone claims that they are an Engineer all you have to do to check the semi-veracity of their statement is look at the pinky finger of their working hand. All engineering graduates receive an iron ring to remind them of the seriousness of their work and the code of ethics which they pledge to uphold. You can read a little more about it at ironring.ca

Whether they go on to complete the requirements of the Association of Professional Enginers and Geo-Scientists of (Province Name) and become a Professional Engineer is up to them.

Context: I'm in my 4th year of Electrical and Computer Engineering at a Canadian university.

As I am getting towards the end of my degree and I'm getting ready to head out into the big world and work, we've started to be taught several ethics courses. Additionally, I have recently received my iron ring - a symbolic (and secret!) ceremony that affirms my commitment to public safety. Through this, I have been picking up the subtleties of a professional designation.

A Professional Engineer, like a Professional Doctor, Nurse, Lawyer, etc., has a deal of responsibility to the public at large. The privilege of being able to build large buildings, for example, comes at the cost of being responsible that the building doesn't fall. Accordingly, Professionals have professional bodies that they are accountable to above and beyond their responsibilities as a normal citizen. The laws are also much harsher on a professional when they don't act in a professional manner.

My main issue with software developers using the title "Engineer" is that the software development industry at large doesn't seem to adhere to the professional conduct demanded of a professional. Just take a look at the standard EULA as an example - imagine if the designers of bridges did a similar thing? While I have no qualms about the software developer "engineering" in the sense of creating, I wouldn't call a first aider a "doctor", despite the fact they do the same thing.

From my perspective, the ideal solution would be to integrate the software developing business into the Engineering profession. In addition to having a professional title, this would be a healthy step towards maturity of an industry that is plagued by antitrust, among other things. This could help bring respect and dignity to the software developer - in addition to more money - which I believe is what people really want.

Anyways, until such time as this happens, I'm not comfortable with the use of "Engineer" by software developers. In Canada, the term "Engineer" is actually copyrighted to the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers - a few years ago, there was actually a conflict with a University that provided an unaccredited course called "Software Engineering", claiming academic freedom. It resulted in a mess, including the temporary withdrawal of accreditation to the engineering programs at the university.

Which was a bit counter-productive.

-legolas

The ring serves as a reminder to the engineer and others of the engineer's obligation to live by a high standard of professional conduct.

I do have to point out that, much to my dismay, in Canada there are instituted policies of political correctness.

The largest city in Canada erected a "Holiday Tree" in the town square. Similarly, they employ "sanitation engineers" to load household waste into the back of trucks. Apparently, they have to have nicer titles than "garbageman", when the unions have them paid $40 an hour for work far less challenging than a McDonalds job.

I resent the use of this terminology because it undermines the value of my iron ring, but the forces responsible are so many Bachelors of Arts that they refuse to learn something "technical" like the difference between someone who has been through four years of hell, and someone who hasn't.

Having said that, I do know a gas station engineer, and a Wal*Mart customer service engineer. One's BEng. Electrical, the other is a BEng. Mechanical. Both were fresh graduates in Ottawa when Nortel started its plunge toward oblivion.

When I received my order of the engineer ring, one of the speakers mentioned that it's a very good idea to remove the ring while working with machinery, even moreso than with normal jewelry. The stainless steel is much less likely to break than a gold ring, and thus that much more likely to pull your finger off in an industrial accident.

Then again, a titanium ring helped that dude in "The Abyss", so maybe it has advantages, too.

Being a Professional Engineer in Canada means you have taken the necessary ethics courses and are accountable for your own work. You can become a PEng in Canada by meeting the qualifications laid out (on a per-province basis) in the second link I provided, and graduating from a university engineering program is usually NOT among the requirements.