What is Engineer Rank?
Engineer is a newly added rank (at the time of posting) which follows Builder.
ORE members with Engineer rank have additional permissions that lower ranks don’t have.
These permissions consist of:
- The ability to officially assist in Builder trials
- The ability to help run an Engineer interview
- The ability to stream video in the ORE Discord server
- Potentially more permissions (the rank is fairly new, things are subject to change, if new perms are added then this will be updated)
Prior to Applying: Expected Knowledge
In the way that Builder requires knowledge about ALUs and all that comes prior, Engineer requires knowledge about CPUs (or something at a similar level) and all that comes before…
The knowledge expected includes the following:
- All knowledge expected of a Student attempting a trial for Builder
- The functions and connections of the different parts of the build
- Explanation of your Engineer build
- Operation of your Engineer build
If you included pipelining, branch prediction, out of order execution, or anything like that then it’s a good idea to review those concepts and make sure to understand your own implementation.
Getting Engineer Rank Part 1: The Application
Once you feel you posses adequate knowledge, you can begin the application process.
Before posting an application, know that there is a required format to follow.
The format is as follows:
Minecraft name:
What’s a thing you have made which demonstrates sufficient engineering knowledge?:
What engineering work went into designing this thing?:
Image(s) and/or video(s) of the device:
The 2nd section is where you put basic information on the device for the interview.
Information such as CPU specs, programs you’ve made for it, some details on the ISA, components of the CPU that are unique to your CPU, etc. (Or if your build is not a CPU, some similar things which are applicable to your build)
The 3rd section you talk about engineering work such as: issues you fixed/worked around, planning, new parts you designed, etc.
Doesn’t hurt to go in-depth, better to put too much detail than too little.
Remember that you can always look at members’ accepted applications here: Latest Engineer Applications/ Accepted - Topic
It helps to know what works and what doesn’t, so feel free to look around for ideas (but don’t plagerize).
Other application info is supplied here: Read Before Posting - Engineer
Feel free to read it to make sure you have the best chances of your application being accepted.
Applications are submitted here: Latest Engineer Applications - Topic
Simply click the blue + in the bottom right and start making your application.
Getting Engineer Rank Part 2: The Interview
Once your application has been accepted, now you need to complete an Engineer Interview.
The interview goes approximately 30 minutes to an hour long (depends on a lot of things).
The interview has a board of staff members and Engineers who ask you questions such as:
- How long did it take you to build
{your_device}? - What challenges did you face when designing
{your_device}? - If you had to rebuild
{your_device}, what, if anything, would you change or do differently? - What can you tell us about
{part_of_your_device}? - What aspect of
{your_device}are you most satisfied with? - What aspect of
{your_device}are you least satisfied with?
Those are just some of the potential questions, staff can choose to ask questions relevant to specifically your device, they can ignore questions on the list, they can even do it their own way.
Be prepared for anything.
It’s always useful to keep track of any planning or documentation you have for your device or the process and review it prior to the interview to refresh your memory.
This way you rely less on what you remember from a while ago, and more on something you just read.
Conclusion
Following this guide properly is likely to lead to you getting Engineer without much confusion.
Everyone learns at a different pace so don’t rush yourself if you need time and don’t wait if you’re able to keep working at it.
If you have any further questions, feel free to reply with it and I’ll answer.
However, seeing as Engineer is relatively new, and only 1 member has the rank, my knowledge on it is also limited.