Portraying a raging laid-off engineer in the film "Falling Down," actor Michael Douglas sported nerdy black-frame eyeglasses, a buzz cut and a pocket protector with three ballpoint pens. Thugs tried to steal his briefcase.

But when Douglas played tycoon Gordon Gekko in "Wall Street," he wore expensive suits and silk ties. Gekko had a certain shady handsomeness.

The contrast between the roles was noted by Richard Benson, dean of Virginia Tech's College of Engineering. Although he smiled about the dissimilar portrayals, Benson described as a pet peeve the culture's stereotyping of engineers. Such typecasting helps discourage young people from pursuing an engineering career, he said.

"There is this image of engineers being kind of the Dilberts of the world," said Benson.

For two decades, engineering trade associations, the National Science Foundation and engineering firms have cited or predicted a critical shortage of engineers and other scientists in the United States. Studies have warned that the nation's prominence as the globe's innovator is at risk. Two prominent Roanoke firms say they struggle to recruit engineers.

Should there be worry about a shortage, either current or looming? Teasing out the truth is tough -- a task akin to an English major braving an algorithm.

Aside from shortages that might exist in certain regions or engineering fields, when empiricism prevails over emotion and politics, the evidence appears to poke holes in the idea of a current shortage.

Whether a future shortage is looming presents another, even more complex question.

"Many people have looked for evidence of a current shortage of engineers and they haven't been able to find any real signs of that evidence," said Michael Teitelbaum, a demographer for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

As for a looming shortage, which might be fueled by baby boomer retirements and a host of other factors -- "If we knew how to forecast demand we could say something credible about that," said Teitelbaum. "But everybody who has tried has failed."

A study released in December by Duke University's School of Engineering reported that the nation "may have future shortages of certain types of engineers" but "is currently producing a competitive number of engineers, computer science and information technology professionals."

But officers at two architectural/engineering firms in Roanoke believe the shortage is real. They're convinced also that an engineer shortage is more keenly felt regionally, where businesses of all stripes struggle to recruit young professionals.

"It has limited our growth," said John Garland, president of Spectrum Design. "You get to the point where you have to turn down some work because the staff's not available. And you have to work people harder too." He emphasized that Spectrum has sufficient staff to complete the projects it tackles.

Still, Garland said, nearly a year passed before Spectrum Design recently filled a civil engineer opening. He said Spectrum competes for candidates with larger companies that offer higher pay, varied opportunities and exciting places to live.

"When you put our small firm up against some international construction firm or some international civil engineering firm it becomes very difficult," Garland said. "And if you couple that with the fact that not many of them want to come to Roanoke, it really gets challenging. Certainly, Roanoke is a factor in the local shortage."

The civil engineer Spectrum recently hired to fill its long-empty slot was Mark Garland, son of John. Mark, like his father, is a graduate of Virginia Tech's engineering program.

Cecil Doyle is president and chief executive officer of Hayes, Seay, Mattern & Mattern. Founded in Roanoke in 1947, HSMM now has offices in 20 cities. Doyle regularly participates in national chief executive officer round tables, including one last month, that are organized by the American Council of Engineering Companies.

"And the number one topic on everybody's mind was, 'Where we are going to find the staff to do the work that we have to do?' " said Doyle. "There might be rumors that there's not a shortage, but you're going to have a hard time convincing the CEOs of all these firms that there's not a shortage."

Cindy Wilson, a human resources professional for HSMM, said the firm's biggest challenge "is hiring qualified employees who have experience in the architecture and engineering field."

Doyle attributed the shortage to a number of forces. An expanding economy has created more jobs, he said. "The demand is high. The need is greater." Baby boomers are retiring. Fewer engineering graduates seem to be entering the work force, especially in the architecture and engineering industry. Foreign-born engineers educated in the U.S. are now likely to return home to countries such as India and China where economies are growing exponentially. And India and China are themselves educating thousands of engineers, although those degrees might not be comparable to a bachelor's degree in the U.S.

HSMM employs civil engineers, mechanical engineers, structural engineers, communications engineers and electrical engineers. As of June 1, the company had 114 job openings, including many engineering jobs.

Doyle said typical annual salaries in Roanoke for entry-level engineers with bachelor's degrees are in the neighborhood of $45,000. HSMM pays more to engineers moving to high-cost cities such as Washington, D.C. Garland said Spectrum Design's starting salaries are similar.

During a forum last month, William Wulf, president of the National Academy of Engineering, said starting salaries for engineers seem generally stable -- neither rising dramatically, implying a shortage, nor falling, implying an oversupply. Wulf said the U.S. probably has enough engineers in sum, counting 70,000 to 75,000 graduates each year and foreign-born engineers on H-1B visas.

The H-1B visa, good for six years, allows a nonimmigrant alien to work in a specialty occupation, including engineering, architecture and other fields. Debate is under way about whether the U.S. should increase the number of H-1B visas from 65,000 each year to a much higher number. Microsoft mogul Bill Gates and others have argued for an increase.

Meanwhile, foreign-born students have come to dominate many programs at U.S. graduate schools of engineering. At Virginia Tech, in the civil and environmental engineering program, there are but two U.S. citizens in a group of about two dozen transportation graduate students. Geraldo Flintsch, program area chair of the transportation group, said that "the lack of U.S. citizens in graduate studies in the transportation area is a national trend, and that a better job needs to be done at the undergraduate level to get students excited about the field."

But some observers also note that some engineering specialties can be a risky choice for students because of boom-and-bust cycles (think aerospace), outsourcing of engineering jobs, and other factors.

Nearly everyone involved in the shortage debate, from Teitelbaum to Wulf, agrees school systems, and parents, should try harder to interest students in math and science.

"Regardless of supply and demand, we need to make the teaching of math starting in elementary education fun and show how it applies to everyday life," Garland said.

In this information-and-innovation global economy, students "really need to know more about math, science and engineering," said Teitelbaum.

At Virginia Tech, which boasts a prestigious college of engineering, enrollments in both undergraduate and graduate programs have increased in recent years. For example, in the fall of 2001, a total of 4,759 students were enrolled in undergraduate engineering programs; in the fall of 2005, the total was 5,478.

But Benson said Virginia Tech and the nation cannot rest on their laurels.

"We've had a wonderful edge as innovators for decades," said Benson. "But there are very smart people around the world and they want what we have."