Overview
Sun, 04/13/2008 - 15:55 — maintenance
Definition of an Engineer
A professional concerned with applying scientific knowledge to practical problems. The discipline is divided into a number of specialties, such as civil, mechanical, chemical, electronic, aerospace, electrical, and industrial engineering.
What is a Consulting Engineer ?
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Consulting engineers are individuals who, because of training in one or more engineering specialties, are licensed professional engineers in private practice.
- They serve private and public clients in ways ranging from brief consultations to complete design and coordination of a project. They are often the technical liaison between architects, process specialists, contractors, suppliers and the client.
- A consulting engineer's specialty may be anywhere in the broad spectrum of engineering technology, including the fields of civil, electrical, structural, mechanical, chemical, metallurgical, geotechnical and highway engineering. A firm may also concentrate in specific fields such as soil mechanics, sanitation, hydrology or petroleum.
- A consulting engineer can provide general consultation, feasibility reports, design, cost estimates, rate studies, project development, patent assistance and preparation of environmental impact statements.
- Locating the best available consulting engineer and negotiating the fairest fee requires research, organization, evaluation and responsible decision making. Engineering value is obtained when the most qualified firm--engaged for a fair and equitable cost--develops a design which best serves the client by holding down present and future costs
