Career paths for engineers, technologists, and
technicians vary in many ways. Just as the
amount and content of education required for
these three positions vary, so do professional
responsibilities. In general, an engineer's
position stresses theory, analysis, and design.
A technologist's job incorporates applications
of theory, analysis, and design, and a
technician is involved with fabricating,
operating, testing and troubleshooting, and
maintaining existing equipment or systems.
Engineers, technologists, and technicians join
together to form a problem-solving and
solution-implementing team. A possible scenario
could be described this way. An engineer uses
theory and design methods to develop products
and systems. The design concept is then given to
a technologist, who has the responsibility for
transforming the concept into a prototype or
product. The device is passed to a technician,
who is responsible for testing it to confirm the
specifications or operation as originally
designed. In actual practice, the interactions
among members of the team can vary considerably.
Your Education and Employment as a Technologist
Typically, a technologist will have completed a
Bachelor of Engineering Technology (BET) or
Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology (BSET)
in the field of electrical, electronics, or
computer engineering. Employment opportunities
range from design operations or sales to project
management.
Your Education and Employment as a Technician
Technicians are generally required to complete
one to two years of specialized education,
usually leading to ail Associate's degree. While
technicians are not responsible for designing
products or systems, job satisfaction comes from
"hands-on" involvement with these products and
systems. Technicians typically install, test,
and maintain products in the field and are
integral to the manufacturing process.
Typical job titles for technologists and
technicians include:
Technologist:
- Electronics Technologist
- Biomedical Engineering
Technologist
- Sales Engineering Technologist
- Customer Service Engineering
Technologist
- Service Engineering Technologist
- Systems Test Engineering
Technologist
- Product Engineering Technologist
- Software Engineering
Technologist
- Documentation Engineering
Technologist
- Quality Control Engineering
Technologist
- Applications Engineering
Technologist
- R&D
Technologist
- Engineering Assistant
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Technician:
- Service Technician
- Manufacturing Specialist
- Field Service Technician
- Customer Service Representative
- Test
Technician
- Bench Technician
- Calibration/Lab Technician
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