Whilst treating the above discussions as just light hearted banter; there are nevertheless fundamental errors of judgement in some of the observations provided. One has to remember that the UKSpec is an continually evolving standard, drawn up from the culmination of the experiences of CEngs from various academic and employment backgrounds, and the impact that technology has on demands of the job. As a result, it can be argued that achieving CEng now is even more difficult than it has ever been.
Bearing that in mind, it is not inconceivable that many of the mature CEngs today would not meet the present UKSpec requirements to CEng registration. I remember one Andy Miller a few years back, had doubts about whether he could achieve CEng based on the newer academic requirement of an MEng degree? And what about the prospects of the retired volunteer members acting as PRIs and PRAs today? Could they meet the standards. But of course, there has been modifications applied to the interpretation of the UKSpec to allow those without degrees to be scored on their experiences; and this has led to worked based engineers achieving CEng registration from an ONC/OND starting point.
In concluding, I would say that it is most unfair to judge the likes of Alan Turing, Nikola Tesla, Michael Faraday, and many more past great scientists/engineers, to today's modern day requirement for CEng registration; just as it would be considered unfair to judge present day members who achieved their CEng registration many years ago to today's standards.
The fairest way would be to hypothetically consider whether Alan Turing, would have met the requirement for CEng registration in the 1940s, where the UKSpec (or its equivalent) had been drawn up by peers of his generation? Well, given his enormous achievements in the field of computing, the answer would most definitely be yes. The same criteria should also be applied to greats from their own time period, and not our time period.
Whilst treating the above discussions as just light hearted banter; there are nevertheless fundamental errors of judgement in some of the observations provided. One has to remember that the UKSpec is an continually evolving standard, drawn up from the culmination of the experiences of CEngs from various academic and employment backgrounds, and the impact that technology has on demands of the job. As a result, it can be argued that achieving CEng now is even more difficult than it has ever been.
Bearing that in mind, it is not inconceivable that many of the mature CEngs today would not meet the present UKSpec requirements to CEng registration. I remember one Andy Miller a few years back, had doubts about whether he could achieve CEng based on the newer academic requirement of an MEng degree? And what about the prospects of the retired volunteer members acting as PRIs and PRAs today? Could they meet the standards. But of course, there has been modifications applied to the interpretation of the UKSpec to allow those without degrees to be scored on their experiences; and this has led to worked based engineers achieving CEng registration from an ONC/OND starting point.
In concluding, I would say that it is most unfair to judge the likes of Alan Turing, Nikola Tesla, Michael Faraday, and many more past great scientists/engineers, to today's modern day requirement for CEng registration; just as it would be considered unfair to judge present day members who achieved their CEng registration many years ago to today's standards.
The fairest way would be to hypothetically consider whether Alan Turing, would have met the requirement for CEng registration in the 1940s, where the UKSpec (or its equivalent) had been drawn up by peers of his generation? Well, given his enormous achievements in the field of computing, the answer would most definitely be yes. The same criteria should also be applied to greats from their own time period, and not our time period.
