The Roles
Student
Absorb the material, build vocabulary, and learn enough context to ask better questions.
Scientist
Search for ideas, formulate questions, build models, and test whether the model explains the case at hand.
Inventor
Turn models into working mechanisms, tools, or technologies that can be tried against real constraints.
Engineer
Use proven ideas and best practices to solve a particular problem for a particular user or client.
Why The Boundary Matters
A project can fail quietly when one phase borrows the expectations of another. Learning is not delivery. A model is not a working tool. A prototype is not a supported product. Client-facing engineering has to meet a different bar than exploratory research.
Clear roles make the work easier to discuss. They clarify who the current output is for, what has to be proven now, and what should not be promised yet.
Practical Handoff
The useful path is not a rigid process. It is a set of handoffs: learning produces better questions, science produces models, invention produces working mechanisms, and engineering produces reliable value for the person or organization that needs the result.