What does it take to be a good engineer?

[JamesCH95]

Beyond communication - emotional intelligence. Being able to read someone you're working with/for/over has an immense impact on your (and your team's) productivity.

Being able to understand the larger (and smaller) implications of your work is very important. I.e. seeing the forest and the tress at the same time will help keep your work relevant and useful.

Most other points I consider valuable have been touched on (or beaten to death) already.

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

Obviously, an engineer solves problems that currently exist, and a scientist solves problems that don't yet exist.

Ugh. I don't like this quip (and those like it). It makes engineers sound second-rate to scientists when in fact the scientist-engineer relationship is an equal partnership - you can't engineer without scientific principles and you can't investigate science without engineered equipment.

I prefer this quote from Einstein: "Scientists investigate that which already is; Engineers create that which has never been."

[/peeve]