Hi Dave,
I see you have
Austrian/German in the title, but just to clarify this: Was he Austrian or German?
It would be rather unusual for a German to put the "Ing." in front of his name, and "Ing." alone would also be be quite unusual here in Germany. At least these days.
The Germans are very sensitive when it comes to titles.
Just to provide you with boring information which you don't really need:
The professional title "Ingenieur" has been protected in the Federal Republic of Germany since the early 1970s by the engineering laws of the federal states and may only be used by graduates of degree courses whose main content is of an engineering or technical nature. In addition to the classical engineering courses (such as mechanical engineering), this can also include computer science, for example. Previously, persons without an engineering education but with many years of relevant professional experience were (and still are) allowed to use the professional title "Ingenieur".
I suspect the man in your clipping may have been too young to have been able to do that in Germany, though.
The degree of Diplom-Ingenieur (Dipl.-Ing.) is obtained by studying at a technical university (formerly Technische Hochschule) or university, usually for five years. A four-year course of study at a university of applied sciences leads to the degree of Diplom-Ingenieur (FH).
Graduates of the earlier engineering schools may, according to state law, use the formerly awarded state designation "Ingenieur" or "Ingenieur (grad.)" (graduated engineer) and, within the framework of post-graduation and under certain conditions, the state designation "Dipl.-Ing. (FH)". The state non-academic degree title acquired at Berufsakademien (vocational academies) is given the bracketed addition (BA): "Diplom-Ingenieur (BA)".
Studies at technical universities (formerly technical colleges) are traditionally always awarded the academic degree "Dipl.-Ing." - in more recent times with the bracket addition (TU), (TH) - or as "Dipl.-Ing. Univ." (awarded by the Technical University of Munich, among others) to distinguish it from the Dipl.-Ing. (FH).
After obtaining a doctorate in engineering sciences at a university, the academic degree of "Doktor der Ingenieurwissenschaften" (Doctor of Engineering Sciences) ("Doktor-Ingenieur", "Dr.-Ing.") is awarded.
As far as Austria goes, I found a website which stated that the Ing. title is still awarded there. The prerequisite: HTL Abitur (type of technical secondary school) + 3 years of practical experience.
Apparently it is not an academic title (similar to the title of technician).
I've been in Germany for so long that I've forgotten how a lot of things are in Blighty, but as far as I know, a person is either a Professor or a Doctor. Here in Germany, they list all their qualifications, so it is absolutely possible for someone to be e.g. Prof. Dr. Dr. Schmidt.
(Often the sort of person you want to avoid...
)
As if anyone really wanted to know all this...
I'm off to bed. Night-night.
Best regards,
Karen
