Autodesk Inventor

[#1]

It used to be back in the stone ages that you first started off as a detailer Draftsman till you worked your way up to a designer after years of experience (say around ten, was the most accepted).

 But iv'e gotten old enough to have the attitude, I don't care what title they call me. I'm now more concerned about two things is it a direct position or contract (direct preferred) and show me the compensation (money, stock options....). Oh and job stability.

msk

[#2]

Sam,

Just so background info about justification of engineering title. A engineer is more than just an education, its a life that you come to at a very early age. Just like most Doctors, you can be trained, but you have to have the drive and desire. 

The Wright brothers, Henry Ford and so on, and around 40% of the engineers that put a man on the moon had no engineering degree. Dad told me that back when he was working on the lunar Lander. And yes he had a mechanical engineering degree. 

[#3]

But isn't it also true that whatever you studied as an 'engineer', that because technology and construction changes all the time and new projects come up, what you studied as an engineer can get lost /go out of date anyway?

My aged engineer friend is involved in a new project creating wind turbines, something completely new to him and his colleagues, so he has to relearn. Also I'm sure that even a designer can learn engineering from a sideline point of view, when collaborating with engineers, a designer can learn on the job, thus going up on the evolutionary scale from CAD/mouse pushing monkey to monkey who knows his peanuts?

[#4]

However, a draftsperson IS NOT a designer!  While designer is a non-descript term, it implies a knowledge of design, manufacturing, marketing and purchasing.  Far more than a draftsman brings to the table [no offense to the OP].  Woe to those that call themselves a designer but can only tap a keyboard.

[#5]

Sorry, wrong sam... I meant to reply to Sam Bixler. Anyway...

In the US , it's illegal to advertise your qualification as an engineer unless you have an equivalent diploma...

I agree with you.

[#6]

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Dennis_Jeffrey wrote:

In the US , it's illegal to advertise your qualification as an engineer unless you have an equivalent diploma...

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Actually, you need a Professional Engineering license to advertise yourself as an engineer or do engineering work as a consultant. A company can give someone an Engineer job title if their services aren't sold directly to the public.

The engineering licensing boards are pretty protective since qualified engineers don't want people to use that title unless they actually know what they are doing. People who learned first aid skills in the army can do great work in an emergency but they can't call themselves doctors. A career criminal who is skilled at avoiding convictions can't call himself a lawyer even though they have extensive knowledge on how the criminal justice system works. I know someone who is a Chief Engineer and he and his employer were sued because he testified in a liability lawsuit. The licensing board said that his testifying in court was providing services to the public, but he got to keep his job title because he was doing work for his employer.

I got a P.E. license primarily because my Father-in-law and Brother-in-law had them and I wanted to pad my resume. I have never stamped a drawing and I haven't provided engineering services as a consultant, so it hasn't been particularly relevant in my career. 

[#7]

Funny you should mention the CAD Monkey!  There is a Dilbert hanging on our wall in the CAD room that originally had the phrase "Code" Monkey in it, but it was altered to CAD Monkey and enlarged for our benefit.  We have called ourselves CAD monkeys ever since.  We even have a plastic monkey on one desk as a mascot.

[#8]

Let's not forget, too, that there are a lot of CAD Monkeys (myself included) who consider themselves designers, even though they have no Engineering degree.  I have a degree in Design Technology and nearly 20 years on the tube, but due to the bleak economic conditions in the manufacturing industry in Michigan,.... CAD Monkey is the best I've been able to find lately, and glad to have that.  Much better than cleaning toilets (which I did for a while before I found this.)

[#9]

I'll start a CAD monkey asociation.

[#10]

We have a picture of a banana on the wall of our drawing office.

Regards