The University of Victoria (UVic) in Canada has a CS[1] program and an accredited BSEng[2] program, which might provide a useful comparison on an engineer’s vs a scientist’s education.

Disclaimer: I am not a graduate of either or those UVic programs or a CS program, and I am not an engineer (I graduated from a mechanical engineering technology program), so my comments should definitely be taken with a bunch of salt.

I would say there are three main differences: Engineering specific: 1. All engineering programs share a common engineering core. Physics, chemistry, material science, math (usually these cover the material from an engineering perspective and are different than courses in the faculty of science), drafting/engineering graphics, engineering economics, and possibly some other courses. 2. An emphasis on professional responsibility and ethics. For example, what happens if a civil engineer certifies a bridge and it later falls over (there is a course where you learn this!)? What happens if a developer builds a website that leaks customer credit cards information (I genuinely don’t know)? Software specific: 3. A greater emphasis on systems and systems design, testing, projects, and few electives leading to a standardized curriculum providing a more consistent knowledge base across graduates.

Comments on engineering in Canada: Graduates of the BSEng program can become registered as a Professional Engineer (PENG) in Canada. To call yourself an engineer in Canada requires that you are licensed (PENG) or in the process of gaining your license (engineer in training / EIT). In Canada, to be “educated as an engineer” would, to a first approximation, require someone have a BEng, BSEng, or BASc degree from an accredited engineering program[3]. I am sure there other accredited engineering degrees that I am not familiar with. Only having a BSEng means you are a graduate of an accredited software engineering program in Canada, you aren’t an engineer yet.

Professional Engineering registration requires a 4 year accredited engineering degree, 4 or 5 years of work experience. Some of the work experience must be supervised by PENGs. You must pass professional exams and keep up with professional development. Additional details can be found at [4].

[1]https://www.uvic.ca/engineering/computerscience/undergraduat...

[2]https://www.uvic.ca/engineering/software/future-students/pro...

[3]https://engineerscanada.ca/accreditation/accredited-programs...

[4]https://www.egbc.ca/Registration/Individual-Registrants/How-...