Who was the best chief engineer

[MacLeod]

The question would be more interesting if it was "Who, besides Montgomery Scott, was the best Chief Engineer?"

Then we might have a conversation.

Then that would be O'Brien

Kept an Alien (to him) Starbase running
Fixed Design Flaws or at least had a significant had in fixing those flaws on the Defiant Class
Had to oversee repairs of ships during the Dominion War that were at DSN for repair
Became Professor of Engineering at Starfleet Academy

 

[The Wormhole]

The question would be more interesting if it was "Who, besides Montgomery Scott, was the best Chief Engineer?"

Then we might have a conversation.

Well, if that's our criteria, then O'Brien.

 

[MacLeod]

So the ranking thus far seems to be

1.>Scotty
2.>O'Brien

So should the question be Who was the third best Chief Engineer?

 

[Farscape One]

A side point... I love Scotty, and he was a great engineer and can do miracles. But... he DID always inflate his repair estimates by 4 times, so it always made him seem greater than he was. He even told LaForge that. Not knocking his abilities because he did do miracles, but I kind of go with Worf's mentality of not needing to exaggerate feats. O'Brien didn't really do this, which was another reason why I picked him.

 

[Kilana2]

A side point... I love Scotty, and he was a great engineer and can do miracles. But... he DID always inflate his repair estimates by 4 times, so it always made him seem greater than he was. He even told LaForge that. Not knocking his abilities because he did do miracles, but I kind of go with Worf's mentality of not needing to exaggerate feats. O'Brien didn't really do this, which was another reason why I picked him.

I picked Scotty, but it was single choice. O'Brien's character improved a lot since he left the Enterprise D. Under Picard he operated the transporter or just sat around. Aboard DS9 he could tap his full potential. He even taught Nog and Rom a lot, even Jake.

 

[MacLeod]

A side point... I love Scotty, and he was a great engineer and can do miracles. But... he DID always inflate his repair estimates by 4 times, so it always made him seem greater than he was. He even told LaForge that. Not knocking his abilities because he did do miracles, but I kind of go with Worf's mentality of not needing to exaggerate feats. O'Brien didn't really do this, which was another reason why I picked him.

To me the scene in TSFS where the inflated repair estimates come up wasn't meant to be taken too seriously and literally besides any half decent engineer will allow time for unforeseen circumstances which could delay a repair.

 

[Farscape One]

I agree that allowing for unforeseen things should be included in a repair estimate, but not multiplying it THAT much. And Scotty said as much in TNG's "Relics", too. So it is clearly a typical strategy of his, because it is more than just being thorough... it is keeping a 'miracle worker' reputation. Scotty's own words.

 

[Kor]

I found "Relics" to be rather disrespectful to Scotty's character.

Kor

 

[Timo]

Well, he's old there. Not to mention recently woken up from the grandmother of all naps. Him retelling an old joke in a confusing manner would fit the picture!

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Gabriel]

I'll give Torres a vote, because the greatest chief engineer of all time, Lt. Commander Argyle, isn't included.

I’m sorry about that but I picked engineers that were on for more than just a couple of episodes

 

[Gabriel]

The question would be more interesting if it was "Who, besides Montgomery Scott, was the best Chief Engineer?"

Then we might have a conversation.

That’s nice I may have to consider that

 

[MacLeod]

I'll give Torres a vote, because the greatest chief engineer of all time, Lt. Commander Argyle, isn't included.

No love for McDougal then, but perhaps she was replaced after the incident with the boy.

 

[Nyotarules]

Commander Tucker..He kept Earth's starship going for ten years, including the Romulan war and then faked his own death.

 

[The Wormhole]

No love for McDougal then, but perhaps she was replaced after the incident with the boy.

A new computer graphic done up for the Blu-ray of Galaxy's Child indicates that as of the fourth season, all the chief engineers from the first season were still serving on the Enterprise, just now they answer to Geordi.

Must have especially awkward for Logan to have Geordi as his boss.

 

[Farscape One]

Especially awkward in season 2, if true, since LaForge was a Lt. and not a Lt. Cmdr.

 

[Random_Spock]

Went with Scotty as my vote, but it's truly a tie for me. I like both him and Geordi.

 

[Discofan]

Commander Tucker..He kept Earth's starship going for ten years, including the Romulan war and then faked his own death.

What makes you say that he faked it?

 

[The Wormhole]

What makes you say that he faked it?

He did, according to the novels.

 

[Discofan]

He did, according to the novels.

So it must have been with Phlox' and Archer's help then.

 

[The Wormhole]

So it must have been with Phlox' and Archer's help then.

Yes, they were both in on it. As were T'Pol and Reed. The novels have completely rewritten TATV, stating what was seen in the actual episode was a historically inaccurate holodeck program.