The emergence of the technician engineer in electrical and electronic engineering

For many years Britain's electrical and electronic engineering industry had been perplexed over the ``technician problem'': what acceptable title might be found for those senior engineering personnel to whom the generic term Technician was unacceptable, because of their training, experience and functions as engineers. This article surveys the current situation and traces the events leading to the setting up, in 1965, of the Institution of Electrical and Electronics Technician Engineers (IEETE), to meet the professional needs of the technician engineer. His distinct status is now firmly established: a responsible engineer in his own right, he has an identity, qualification and career of his own.