The phrase "a competent engineer" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it to describe an engineer who possesses the necessary skills and abilities to perform their job effectively.
Example: "The project was a success largely due to the contributions of a competent engineer who ensured all specifications were met."
Alternatives: "a skilled engineer" or "an adept engineer."
He sat in on some engineering lectures and realised he was "a competent engineer … whereas I was a pedestrian mathematician".
If engineering needs followed true free market principles, during a shortage a competent engineer would be able to name his price and get it.
Arkwright was a competent engineer, but his real claim to fame wasas an industrial organizer.
Tradition says that Middleton employed an English landscape gardener; whoever did design it was an artist of the first rank and a competent engineer.
It was seen as an added value in building and improving communication skills, leadership and cooperation between groups, apart from having a competent knowledge in a competent engineer.
It's a nice twist on that sexist trope of a woman going to college to get her 'M.R.S.' – if a woman really were to do that, she would end up as a competent engineer.
BT: I've become a reasonably competent engineer and producer.
On February 22 , 1876 Daniel Coit Gilman, the first president of Hopkins, suggested in his inaugural address that cities of "fifteen or twenty thousand people…should have the services of a competent scientific engineer". It would be 10 years before the first inkling of engineering education would surface at Hopkins.
And soon after, I realise that all my years of tinkering with computers and software have not accidentally turned me into a competent reverse engineer.
The giant sucking sound everyone hears in Palo Alto is Facebook hiring every competent engineer they can get their hands on, so it's no wonder that Jay ended up at the fast growing company.
Sadanand Dhume pointed out that the latter has "core strengths -- competitive private companies, a vast cohort of competent engineers and managers, a growing middle class and the cushion of long-term stability provided by democracy". However, New Delhi needs to recommit itself to economic reform for its people to fulfill their enormous potential.
