This was rudely brought to mind today as I attended an emergency service call at one of our theatres.

As usual, I approached the guest services counter, toolbox in hand, to announce that I was there regarding a problem in Theatre # 11.

The girl behind the counter snapped her chewing gum, grabbed the walkie-talkie and announced "The.........um........er......projector fix-it guy is here."

Rick Long, projector fix-it guy........I rather like it!

Personally, I don't consider what people do in projection booths as engineering though certainly some design work does happen there. Perhaps it is a bit of snobbery since I have one of those BSEE degrees (University of Maryland @ College Park). There is something to the formal training/education where many qualified educators pass or fail a student along the way to a degree. To give you an idea of the difficulty...there is a 10% success rate for all engineering apllicants (any of the engineering degrees, not just electrical) just to get through to the end of their sophomore physics classes (typically it is a 3-semester course). The professor announced this to us on our first day...and by gum he was right...out of the 140+ freshman engineering students entering...there were only 14 of us in the class after 3 semesters. After passing all of that (with a C or better) you move on to your chosen field, for me it was electrical. I don't know what the drop off rate was from the Junior level on up but I'd say about 50% drop in the mirky end of sophomore to the end of your junior transition (you actually starting taking about two classes in your chosen area in the last semester of your sophomore year).

So after all of that does one get to call themselves an engineer? As John pointed out...not quite and it depends on where one is working and what one is doing. You have the degree that qualifies you to apply for a job (performance will let you keep it in the right times).

There is another level of engineer (and I don't mean the MS or PhD) but the "Practicing Engineer." This is where the government comes in to define an engineer. In order to profer themselves as an "Engineer," they must have two letters after their name...P.E and that qualification is government run. You can take the test as a general engineer or in your specific field. Why bother with this? Because public safety may be involved. On any construction, a "P.E" must sign off on the designs (electrical, mechanical...etc)...in effect that the designs are good and safe. You don't want to drive your car over a bridge that was designed by a fresh out of college engineer that "thinks it is good." In fact, one of the PE requirments is actual work within the field.

So when I do work within a booth (installing or repairing, or even designing) what do I call myself? A technician. There is no shame in it and it more accurately describes what I'm doing. I still have the degree and change into my "engineer" hat when it comes to designing stuff. If any of you have used a Sony 2000 series SDDS unit with a 2-projector changeover, you will have used one of my boards.

So I come back to where I started...what is in a title? I think the best answer has already been given...it is what others see you as and sometimes it is just the "projector fix-it-guy"...and if you like fixing projectors, who cares what they call you!

Steve