I agree we do have things similar to engineering, but these fields seem to be done differently than if they were in the hands of engineers. Industrial engineering is thought to be a field of engineering, but operations research is often considered part of “applied mathematics” (I think). I find it quite interesting that information theory is typically taught as a “electrical engineering” class, but the applications are really just all over the place.
My honest guess is that the reasons why some things are considered “engineering”, and thus respected and organized as an option for “engineers”, and other areas that could be are not, is often due to cultural and historic factors. The lines seem quite arbitrary to me right now.
I agree we do have things similar to engineering, but these fields seem to be done differently than if they were in the hands of engineers. Industrial engineering is thought to be a field of engineering, but operations research is often considered part of “applied mathematics” (I think). I find it quite interesting that information theory is typically taught as a “electrical engineering” class, but the applications are really just all over the place.
My honest guess is that the reasons why some things are considered “engineering”, and thus respected and organized as an option for “engineers”, and other areas that could be are not, is often due to cultural and historic factors. The lines seem quite arbitrary to me right now.