There always was a shakey dividing line between "Engineer" and "Scientist", particularly at RAE. I've known Engineers with Science degrees, Scientists with Engineering degrees - but the term Boffin was one that we were always very proud of and the ideals JF describes were certainly what we aspired to. Is it still in regular use anywhere?
Incidentally, I was dismayed to learn a couple of years ago that Boffin had, at-least at my stepson's comprehensive, become a term of abuse, roughly equivalent to "swot". Oh well, I'm sure that we'll all outlive that.
G
N.B. Jolly well done the VAAC guys, I was never on that project but was "in the next office" for a few years - damned impressive work over a very long time.