They engineer happenings. The better ones among them proceed to change the ways of engineering itself. To be able to become a creative leader of the engineering profession an individual would need to nurture a wide spectrum of capabilities, which cannot even be listed exhaustively. When engineers create, engineering concepts are what give them strength, support and confidence. So preparation for becoming an engineer involves getting to know quite a bit of engineering concepts.
Concepts are more than mere methods and procedures.
They are mental constructs that help humans to understand and explain reality. One can become an engineer by first practicing as an apprentice in engineering work. That is the way most did sometime back. Presently the formal way is to go through a physics-mathematics centred schooling followed by a university education specialising in engineering. This university education phase may take three or four years depending on the university.