Typical dictionary definitions of engineering and design are :

"Engineering - The application of scientific and mathematical principles to practical ends such as the design, manufacture, and operation of efficient and economical structures, machines, processes, and systems"

"Design- Plan or arrangement of line, form, mass, colour, and space in a pattern. A design may be created to serve a functional purpose as in architecture and in industrial designs or else purely to provide aesthetic pleasure.

Traditionally a design engineer's remit would include the interior packaging, the mechanical integrity and the design of any sytems or mechanisms in a product whereas an industrial designer's responsibilities would include the exterior styling, the aesthetics, ergonomics and ensuring the product conformed to the company 'look' and branding.

However, more and more the traditional roles are becoming blurred as industrial designers take on more engineering related issues and engineers concern themselves with tasks once the domain of the industrial designer.