Microsoft gives up the title “engineer” in Canada

The Canadian Council of Professional Engineers (CCPE) is “very pleased” that Microsoft Corporation has agreed to stop using the term “engineer” when it grants certificates to its trainees. The software giant had been awarding the title “Microsoft Certified System Engineers,” but have agreed to change the practice, and to write to existing Canadian hodlers of the ceritification to tell them not to use it any more.
The CCPE and several provincial engineering associations met with Microsoft in Seattle late last year to explain that only individuals licensed by the professional engineering associations in Canada are permitted to use the title “engineer.” The Canadian associations had a previous legal tussle with Memorial University in Newfoundland over a similar issue, after the university used the term “engineering” to apply to a software design course. The associations are currently trying to find a way of accrediting software engineering programs, and have a task force recommendation to include non-engineering computer experts in the adjudicating process. However, Professional Engieners Ontario are taking a hard line against the proposals.
See CCPE in “Links”