I would argue that the decision to not apply those specific algorithms and techniques is an engineering one. A similar decision might be in a typical CRUD application when you need to choose the best RDBMS for the job at hand.

“in those disciplines rules of the game, techniques and technologies don’t change that often. New materials and discoveries do happen and engineers can apply them to improve products, but knowledge and application of stable more or less universal scientific rules learned through classical studies is the key to success.”

Consider that “cloud computing” was born of science; it was tested in labs before being released into the wild (and it still may not be mature enough to be applicable to newer projects). Consider how many “legacy” systems there are out there that still work, and are still appropriate given the replacement costs.

I may be biased, since my degree is from an accredited software engineering program, but I do believe that the development of large and complex software systems is difficult and expensive. Building such systems within time and budget constraints seems very characteristic of engineering.