Engineering

Introduction

Layout for Galaxy Class Ship

Welcome to Engineering. You'll find this is one of the most important parts of any ship, starbase, or colony. Every single system, every data chip, every single console leads to Engineering - and in turn to everywhere else. You will also find that engineers are very important officers to have as well. If any equipment goes down, that's who you will expect to be there. We're going to explore what it takes to be an Engineering officer.

Responsibilities

There is one blatently obvious responsibility of being an engineer: taking care of the engines. But, truth be told, there is a lot more to it than that. But that's a great place to start.

The standard (and typical) engine used in Starfleet is, of course, the Warp Drive. Which is actually very typical for most of the races we've encountered. I should hope as an engineer you know how they work, but we'll go over the basics anyway. The core of the warp drive is used to control the annihilation of matter and antimatter. This controlled explosion is what generates the tremendous power required to warp space and travel faster than light. Your job is to make sure that the balance of matter and antimatter is equal at all times. There are times when it won't be - subatomic particles are rather hard to predict - and you have to make sure that you can fix that if there's a problem.

Aside from the Warp Drive, there are many other things an engineer may be expected to repair. Shield emitters, weapons arrays (I.E. phaser arrays or torpedo launchers), environmental controls, even replicators. Typically engineers will be expected to repair any damaged system on the ship that is necessary for survival.

Emergency Situations

Now, its safe to assume that occasionally you'll be put in a situation requiring emergency repairs of, say, the weapons systems or the Warp Drive. One thing to always remember: don't panic. Yes, you have a lot of people relying on you, but if you panic, you won't necessarily get the job done. A little anxiety is helpful at times, but remember, you have a whole team of engineers behind you. Very rarely will you be the only engineer available.

• Warp Drive Breach

If a Warp Drive Breach occurs, there's very little you can do about it, unless you can literally work miracles. All you can do is eject the core or abandon ship.

• Coolant Leak

A coolant leak can lead to a breach if not taken care of immediately. There are foam injectors (which are a lot like fire extinguishers, only with foam) located in several key areas of engineering which can be used to seal a plasma/coolant leak. If not taken care of in time, the core must be ejected or the ship abandoned.

There are, of course, other emergencies that can occur. It is up to you to decide what to do in those situations.

Simming an Engineer

Typically engineers are not required for Away Team missions unless there is some kind of technology involved - powering up an alien ship, trying to repair another Starfleet vessel, et cetera. Occasionally you may get to go just because the experience will do you good. One thing to always remember: even though you're an engineer, you are not a god. Trip Tucker nearly died during one away mission. Scotty never died on an away mission because he rarely ever went on away missions, but he could have been seriously hurt or killed at any point. La Forge had his share of problems. O'Brien did, too. And Torres had plenty to worry about on her missions. To put it simply, you have to rely on others just as much as they do you.

For example. You've arrived at an alien planet and you're trying to get their equipment working, but you can't read the script. Your tricorder won't work, so you should ask your science or comm officer that is accompanying you to translate it for you. Or some other situation.

Being an engineer is easy. Being an effective engineer is what's difficult.

• Explore: The Main Engineering area of an Intrepid Class vessel.
• Explore: The engineering station on the bridge of an Intrepid Class vessel.

Notable Engineering Officers

• Zefram Cochrane
• Trip Tucker
• Montgomery Scott
• Geordi La Forge
• Miles O'Brien
• B'Elanna Torres

My Personal Experience as Former CEO of USS Constitution-B

Trying to summarize my time aboard the USS Constitution-B as CEO is a bit difficult. I have to say though, I had a helluva time. I also had a wonderful trainer at the time, though I'm sad to say he didn't survive after an accident in the warp core... Commander Marc Torrance was a wonderful man, and I was honored to step into his shoes as Chief Engineer. It wasn't easy.

Being an engineer isn't really all that hard... just boring sometimes. But, typically, you can find things to do to keep busy. When I didn't have a specific task, I would generally try to increase efficiency of ships systems, or work on my own little invention to make something work better, yada yada yada. Typical stuff.

I suppose I should just re-iterate what is written above. Take care of your people. Take care of your ship. Keep things interesting.

--Lt Pietro Maximoff 11:13, 3 Aug 2005 (CDT)

Suggested Links for Engineers

UFOP Academy Library

Ex Astris Scientia

Starfleet Corps of Engineers, Starbase 118 Division

SF Corp of Engineers Forum

Need help? Ask the Engineer!

Mission Specialist	Helm/Com/Ops	Engineer	Science Officer	Medical Officer	Nurse
Intelligence Officer	Security Officer	Tactical Officer	Marine	Counselor	Civilian

	Duty Posts