Re: What an engineer does in the UK
"Or to put it more accurately: about how the word "engineer", in the UK at least, doesn't mean what people with engineering degrees wish it meant."
true. I have a HND in Engineering, or MechaTronics as they called it that year (said Engineering when the cert arrived). I never managed to get a job in it, I have been called an engineer on and off in various other I.T roles.
I've given up giving a shit. The word is lost. Its gone the way of "Technician" in that anyone can put it after their job to make it sound fancy.
The longest serving desktop support grunt next door recently became a "Senior Engineer" , much flashier title than his boss - the Team Leader.