[nylug-talk] Paper IT certs and disk drive fabrication differences -- WAS: Slim home server

[Bryan J. Smith]

Gregg Levine wrote:
> Hello!  Okay I won't.

This isn't a "certification program."

A Professional Engineering (PE) license is the original trio of
professional licenses (engineering, law, medicine), requiring 8-16+
years of education and/or experience.  It was the British that
originally changed engineering from a PhD level education with only 2
year internship to a modified BS level education (modified in that your
first 2 years were not generic anymore) with 4 year internship.  The
British believed that 2 years of engineering internship was not long
enough.

If you practice as a PE, you may be _criminally_ liable (not just
civilly) if damage is done to the public.  People can complain to the
state and the state will come after you.  Yes, you can now be sued for
"malpractice" just like a doctor or lawyer, with the state footing the
bill, not just users.  You will be expected to carry several million
dollars of liability, possibly tens of millions (or hundreds), depending
on what you do.

Gregg Levine wrote:
> But to answer your question about an internship, I spent the time
> working in a computer store in Queens NY essentially repairing systems
> and setting up new ones. Also the full range of operating systems were
> players here (or there).

That wasn't an "engineering" internship.
Heck, that wasn't even an "engineering technology" internship.
That was a "technical" internship.

It qualifies as 0 years experience if you seek a PE.  ;)

Why people want to be called "engineer" is beyond me.
Engineers aren't practical, they are designers, product managers, etc...
Technologists are typically the most well-balanced tech and engineering savvy.

> I should also say that I appreciate the level of discourse we have had
> in this discussion.

Again, most people are confused on what engineers do.  Just because we
shorten the phrase of "engineering technology" to "engineering" doesn't
mean it's the same.





-- 
Bryan J  Smith              Professional, Technical Annoyance
mailto:b.j.smith at ieee.org  http://www.linkedin.com/in/bjsmith
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