The engineer as a translator and interpreter

A translator is a person who translates written text from one language to another. An interpreter is a person who translates orally from one language into another. In the majority of cases a person will specialise as either a translator or an interpreter. If an engineer wishes to become a translator/interpreter or alternatively needs to get translations done or needs the assistance of an interpreter how can he/she go about it? The author discusses the tools available to an engineer including: doing the translation/interpreting him/herself; getting someone else to do the translation; and using translation software packages and translation aids.