Lu,
Yes in Australia and the UK Maintainers are called Engineers, but the term is to do with the Licence they are issued Licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineer, or LAME, its a carry over of the old ways, like the days when flying boat skippers were piped on and off the "vessel". If you call them mechanics they would probably smack you in the face and turn you into a hand puppet. The term Engineer has stuck instead of saying the full title, only difference is they don't design things, they fix them.