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[Frank Koenig]

This article from The Register about a contractor in Arizona who appears to have gotten in hot water:

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/12/11/arizona_says_electrical_engineer_cant_call_himself_an_engineer/

--Frank

[Tim Hite]

Doesn't seem very laissez-fairé.

[Keith Broughton]

It seems to me that to refer to yourself as an engineer in everyday parlance is one thing. To call your registered company and engineering firm is a different story.
Still, it seems a bit of a tempest in a teapot!

[Tim McCulloch]

I got the hat, the overalls, and the locomotive.  I AM AN ENGINEER!  WOO! WOO!

[John Roberts {JR}]

Not me... luckily the patent office doesn't ask or care.

JR

[Corey Scogin]

Doesn't seem very laissez-fairé.

I think the various engineering professional groups (IEEE, others) lobby for legislation that "protects" their industry just like every industry group does. In college, at EE school, we were taught that, at least where I live, the term Engineer was disallowed for use by companies interacting with the public unless those companies employed a Licensed Professional Engineer. There are some grandfathered-in exceptions. I'm not a fan of such legislation especially when it comes to things as trivial as naming or describing a business.

[Frank Koenig]

This only got my attention as it was a little close to home. I had worked as a (now, apparently, so called) engineer for a few years before I became more than vaguely aware of such a thing as a "professional engineer". It just didn't come up in my world at that time. Later, in the '90s, I hung my shingle as an "engineer" and did a bit of contract work. By then I knew what a PE was but, lucky for me, still no one cared.

As for the guy in Arizona, there are likely three sides to that story and maybe he really did misrepresent himself or do something to piss off the AHJ. In any case -- a cautionary tale. Funny thing is I know a number of PEs in mechanical and civil, but not a single one in electrical, although I'm likely to have unwittingly crossed paths with a few in my brief warehouse design days.

--Frank (in the Silicon Valley Bubble)

[Dave Garoutte]

So it should be 'Engineer (tm)'?

I generally refer to myself as an eyeball engineer; no training, but a lot of experience.

[Frank Koenig]

So it should be 'Engineer (tm)'?

I generally refer to myself as an eyeball engineer; no training, but a lot of experience.

Yes, "Engineer", with a capital "E". So long as I don't let my e get too big I'm good.

[Stephen Swaffer]

At first glance, I felt this was going too far-but drawing the parallel with electricians he called his firm an "Engineering" firm.  Had he simply used the word "Design(s)" and then offered to design products it would have been clear.  Building/wiring machine tools is not covered by the NEC or most state licensing rules-but calling yourself an "Electrical" firm even though you only design/build machine tools or electrical control panels is misleading at worst, confusing at best.

[ProSoundWeb Community]