Starfleet Corps of Engineers


This article is an official Galactic Anthropology Committee Article.This article is official Star Trek canon.
Starfleet Corps of Engineers
StarfleetEngineering.png
Active:

Since 2156

Part Of:

Starfleet

Allegiance:

United Federation of Planets

Branch:

Engineering

Role:
  • Engineering Problems
  • Special Projects
  • Designing New Technologies
Flagship:

USS Bell

Motto:

Confidens Consilium

Command Staff
Chief of Staff of Starfleet:

Fleet Admiral Teval

Chief of Starfleet Department:

Admiral Grenil

Master Chief Petty Officer of Department:

MCPO Gralek

Source


The Starfleet Corps of Engineers (otherwise known as the SCE, Starfleet Engineering, or Starfleet Engineering Corps) was created shortly after United Earth Starfleet came to be. Its initial purpose was to create Starbase 1 and Utopia Planitia, though it was expanded later. It did its job well from the time of its conception. It continues to create new projects, new ships, and find solutions to Starfleet's problems. Today, Starfleet engineers have a reputation among citizens of all powers for their technological abilities and some say Starfleet engineers can "take a rock and make a replicator".

History

United Earth

The Starfleet Corps of Engineers was created around 2156, shortly after the birth of United Earth Starfleet. The SCE was initially simply a band of engineers sent to build Starbase 1 and Utopia Planitia. This is the group that eventually became the Starfleet Corps of Engineers not long after. Every Starfleet cadet in the engineering program is taught about these simpler days and the times when they were not thought of as a force to be reckoned with.

Eventually the SCE was given the purpose of creating new ships and new warp drives. In fact, it was the predecessor of the SCE that created both the Daedalus-class and NX-class starships, along with the theory of deflector shields. Working in conjunction with Starfleet Security, they also created body armor for security personnel and polarized hull plating for ships. Upon meeting the Andorians, the SCE was driven to make more effective weaponry as the Andorians were quite militaristic. Instead, they discovered that the Andorians could be reasoned with and that the danger lay elsewhere.

With the disastrous first contact with the Romulans, Earth and Starfleet found themselves facing a war they were not prepared for. The SCE went to work to find a warp seven engine and to also create better weaponry and defenses against the Romulan's tactics. They were successful to an extent though Earth would not have been able to win without the help of her allies.

Founding of the Federation

The peoples of the four member races of the fledgling Federation looked to the stars for allies, but did not find them right away, making the SCE more determined to create better ships, weapons, and warp drives. Instead, the Federation Council wanted them to concentrate on computer memory storage and power consumption so that Starfleet's ships would be able to better retain their data on mapping the quadrant and the races they met. Reluctantly agreeing, the engineers went to work on their tasks, and found them to be far more fulfilling than constantly working on battle technology.

Once they had been able to work on peaceful technologies again, the SCE began pushing outwards, perfecting the transporter technology, designing new shuttlecraft, and working on new technologies in general. They did their job well and with enthusiasm, as every engineer loved to experiment. Soon it was not just humans in this area of Starfleet, but also Andorians, Vulcans, and especially Tellarites. Tellarites and Vulcans soon began to outnumber the others, however in other areas of Starfleet, humans or Andorians outnumbered the others. In time they made peace with this and learned to work together.

For the rest of the century, the SCE continued to work on its various projects, including the Constitution-class project, and the deflector shields which became standard on all Federation vessels. Over time the ships and crews began to use phasers, both handheld and ship phasers, instead of phase pistols or phase pulse arrays. It was an era of discovery for the SCE, one that was held in high regard ever since.

2200s

Until the late 23rd century, the SCE was merely seen as a go-to department for the various others, creating things such as better transporters, phasers, or medical tricorders. The regard with which they were held was that they were there to fix things, and that they had no other purpose and as such was low on Starfleet's list of priorities. In 2264, the SCE received three Daedalus-class ships with which to find engineering problems throughout the Federation and along her borders, to rectify them, and if possible bring back alien technologies.

Because they did this mission so well, their esteem within Starfleet and the Federation in general started to rise considerably, leading to projects such as excavating asteroids for projects such as the Genesis Project, though this project quelled some of it. Later the Corps was given the task of using one of the gas giants in the Talin system system to create food for a giant spaceborne lifeform. Later, the head of Starfleet Command sent an SCE ship to investigate the disappearance of the USS Enterprise's nacelle into subspace in the Talin system. However, this proved to be false and a result of signals sent from a Romulan outpost on the surface. The Romulans left Federation space just as the USS T'Lora, the SCE ship, found a way through the signal.

2300s

In the 2300s, the Corps of Engineers began building better starships to explore into the unknown and to accommodate the fact that most Starfleet personnel wanted to bring their families with them. This began to be the standard on such classes like the Excelsior-Refit-class, the Norway-class and others. Eventually it became the standard for all ship classes other than those that were designed for war. In the 2350s, the Corps of Engineers was tasked with creating not only starships designed for exploration, but labs worthy of the same and the defensive systems to protect the ships as need be. The results were the Mark VIII Phaser Array, improved deflector shields, labs that exceeded expectations and several new ship classes such as the New Orleans-class, the Galaxy-class and the Nebula-class. These ships were also family ships, designed with families in mind and had something new: holodecks.

These holodecks could be used for teaching children, recreation, training, experiments, and anything in between. The holodecks became popular with many crew members, to the point where some began to become addicted to them and were seen by the Chief Medical Officer. This phenomenon was passed to Starfleet Medical for further study. However, these proved to be useful as training exercises could be used from the Academy to Bridge Officer Training and other uses such as reconstructing a crime scene in an investigation for a security officer.

In the mid-23rd century, the USS Enterprise led by then-Captain James T. Kirk and then-Commander Spock went into the Neutral Zone to steal a Romulan Cloaking device. The mission was a success, however, the Treaty of Algeron prevented them from using it. Starfleet Intelligence and then-Captain Pressman wanted the SCE to create a new Federation cloaking device. The test ship, the USS Pegasus, tested it in 2358 in an uninhabited system but phased into an asteroid, killing everyone aboard. In response to this, the Romulans demanded in the Treaty of Algeron that the Federation be banned from ever creating a cloaking device. In the following years, the USS Defiant was allowed to use one given to them by the Romulans in the Gamma Quadrant, but it must not use it in the Alpha or Beta Quadrants.

However, the peace was not going to last as threats began to make themselves known, most importantly the Borg. The Borg threat at Wolf 359 started the Corps of Engineers to begin to create a ship class designed specifically to combat this menace, though it was not finished in time to fight the Borg: the Defiant-class. In the 2370s a new war with the Klingons erupted, prompting the use of the finally finished Defiant-class of ships. The Klingons prompted the SCE to create better weapons again, better shields, and armaments. Ablative armor was installed on starships' hulls before they left spacedock. The war ended before most of these projects could be finished, however, they were finished in time for another war with an enemy far worse: the Dominion.

With the arrival of more and more enemy ships and the rate that the existing ships were taken down, the SCE's fleet yards were working overtime to create new starships to replace those that were lost. Some time into the war, the Breen sided with the Dominion, giving them a decided advantage. A Breen weapon used at the First Battle of Chin'toka disabled most of the fleet that was sent to the system to battle the Jem'Hadar and the Breen. One lone Klingon ship was able to combat it by adjusting the warp core to a certain frequency, but the Federation ships were unable to do the same. That meant the Klingons were bearing the brunt of the Dominion's attacks, as both sides knew that the Breen weapon would be all that would be needed to disable either Federation or Romulan ships. The SCE was given the task of making it workable with both Romulan and Federation technology, succeeding in both.

After the end of the war, SCE started to focus on building more ships in conjunction with Starfleet Operations. In the 2380s, they also began to create newer starships for theoretical and practical applications for R&D, and also for the main Starfleet. The starship classes came out sometime near 2390, the classes being Ascension-class, Vesta-class and others. The USS Voyager brought back an idea that the SCE is currently working on: Quantum Slipstream Drive.

Divisions

The various divisions of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers are divided according to what their specific purpose is, so that Research & Development investigates and invents new technologies aboard starships and the Warp Technology Division deals with propulsion aboard the said starships. As with any Starfleet department, the SCE is partially responsible for the training of their officers.

Advanced Technology Division

The Advanced Technology Division, also called ATD or Advanced Tech, works with new technologies such as the mobile emitter that the USS Voyager brought back from the Delta Quadrant, and also other technologies that needed to be invented, such as the idea of emergency medical holograms. The ATD often works with outside engineers and scientists such as Louis Zimmerman to bring life to existing ideas and to add new ideas to the ATD. The engineers here are considered some of the best in the Federation and are extremely proud of that belief. The Advanced Tech is also considering technologies such as sensors to penetrate cloaking devices, regenerative shielding, and other technologies.

Research And Development

The Research And Development Department, also called R&D, is the brain pan of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers. This is where new technology is dreamed up, vetted out, developed, and tested by the keenest minds in the SCE. Those serving in the R&D Department are usually there because of extended service within Starfleet as an Engineer or extensive private study at a university or training camp. They are the best and the brightest, the innovators, and the future of Starfleet's technology.

Warp Tech Division

When dealing with Warp Technology, you have to have a certain disconnection from normal space and time relationships. That special trait is evident in every single member of the Warp Tech Division. Each of these brilliant scientists have shown a propensity toward understanding the inconceivable that happens when an object in motion approaches the speed of light. They are the brains behind the technology that slims down warp fields and increases dylithium reaction rates. Their brilliance is all that stands between a ship and the sheering forces of warp travel. Without them, the stars would still be just... out of reach.

Starship Engineers

See Also:


Perhaps the most famous of all SCE Engineers, the common engineer in Starfleet is found mostly on starships and starbases. These are the people who fix Starfleet's ships, the ones that are trained to make replicators from rocks as some aliens would say. They usually have a fascination with all things technological and most started tinkering with things when they were children. The engineers are highly trained and go through 4 years at the Academy, sometimes more schooling prior to that to learn as much as they can. This results in some of the best engineers in the quadrant.

SCE Starships

Not many know about the starships that the Corps of Engineers uses, however, they are there, mostly Galaxy-class, Nebula-class, or Sovereign-class so as to allow for more sensors, personnel, and equipment for use by the captain to assist in engineering problems among the various ships, starbases and planets of the Federation. These ships are not sent on the usual engineering missions, but rather those that require more delicacy and skill than the average engineer has, even though all engineers are in the Corps. The personnel of these vessels are mostly engineering crewmen or officers, ensuring that they would have the expertise needed for whatever situation arises.