A starship is only as good as the engineer that keeps it running, and Star Trek's legendary USS Enterprise is no exception. As established by the legendary Captain Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (James Doohan) in Star Trek: The Original Series, the Chief Engineer is an integral part of each Star Trek show's main line-up. From TOS to Star Trek: Picard season 3, there have been seven ships to bear the name Enterprise, and each of them have had a dedicated team of engineers, headed up by an excellent Chief.
Even shows that don't focus on one of the many versions of the USS Enterprise have their own Chief Engineers in the line-up. Star Trek: Voyager had Lt. B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson), while Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had Chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney), who had cut his teeth in the transporter room aboard the USS Enterprise-D. Modern Star Trek shows have placed Scotty and his Star Trek: The Next Generation successor Lt. Commander. Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) within a long history of Enterprise engineers, which goes all the way back to the birth of the Federation itself.
10 Commander Trip Tucker, Enterprise NX-01
The Enterprise NX-01 was the first warp five capable starship to launch humanity's mission of exploration out among the stars. Its engineer, Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III's role in Star Trek: Enterprise's central trio was similar to Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley) - the close human friend of the starship captain. As Enterprise depicted Starfleet's first deep space exploration mission it made perfect sense to make the NX-01's engineer part of the central trio.
Operating at the forefront of human warp drive technology, the crew of the Enterprise NX-01 were incredibly reliant on their engineer. Trip often had to improvise solutions and learn on the job when it came to the capabilities of the Enterprise NX-01. Tragically, Trip was killed protecting his beloved ship from hijackers in Star Trek: Enterprise's controversial finale. However, his legacy as the first Chief Engineer of the starship Enterprise outshines his disappointing ending.
9 Commander Kelby, Enterprise NX-01
In Star Trek: Enterprise season 4, Trip transferred to the Columbia NX-02 to hasten the ship's long-delayed first voyage. Trip's replacement aboard the Enterprise was Commander Kelby (Derek Agyar), who had a baptism of fire when the ship fell victim to Klingon sabotage. Trip quickly transferred back over to help Kelby repair Enterprise, leading to the two men clashing before Kelby filled the vacant position aboard the Columbia NX-02.
8 Lt. Hemmer, USS Enterprise
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Lt. Hemmer (Bruce Horak) was another Enterprise engineer who met a tragic end in the line of duty. Hemmer was an Aenar, the genetic cousins of Star Trek's Andorians, who lived underground and had developed incredibly strong psychic abilities to replace their lost sight. Hemmer succeeded Louvier, the previous Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) was brief, but he made a lasting impact on Cadet Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), who spent time working in engineering.
Hemmer helped Uhura find her purpose, effectively ensuring the legendary Star Trek: The Original Series character's place on the bridge of the Enterprise. Like Trip, Hemmer's death was a noble sacrifice, although it had a much stronger impact on the crew. Pinned down by the Gorn on the wreck of a Starfleet vessel, Hemmer acted as bait for the young Gorn, giving his life to allow the Enterprise away team to escape. Hemmer's brutal death had a major impact on Uhura, but it also impacted Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) who is still dealing with his grief in Strange New Worlds season 2.
7 Commander Pelia, USS Enterprise
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' season 1 finale teased that a young Montgomery Scott may replace Hemmer on the Enterprise. However, Scotty's current predecessor - if she can avoid the fate of Hemmer and Trip - is Strange New Worlds' Lanthanite engineer, Commander Pelia (Carol Kane). The Lanthanites are a rare species that are said to have lived alongside human beings undetected for centuries, which means that Pelia likely has gained a large set of skills learned during her long life on Earth.
Interestingly, Spock, rather than Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), recruited Pelia to the Enterprise. In the Strange New Worlds season 2 opener, Spock was left in charge of the Enterprise and assigned Pelia as Chief Engineer to mitigate the consequences of stealing the Enterprise. Although she technically blackmailed Spock into giving her the position, her role at Starfleet Academy presumably means she's well-placed to run engineering on the Federation flagship.
6 Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott, USS Enterprise & Enterprise-A (Kelvin Timeline)
Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott (Simon Pegg) is the only TOS character who doesn't start J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie on the USS Enterprise. Originally Olson (Greg Ellis) was the original Enterprise Chief Engineer, but he was killed during the attack of Vulcan by Nero (Eric Bana). When James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) was thrown off the Enterprise for insubordination, he was helped by the elderly Spock (Leonard Nimoy) Keenser (Deep Roy), and Scotty. Using the Prime Universe Scotty's secret to transwarp beaming, Kirk, Keenser and Kelvin Scotty arrived back on the Enterprise.
Scotty was made Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise soon after his arrival and continued to serve in the role throughout the Kelvin Timeline movies. In Star Trek Into Darkness, Enterprise's Chief Engineer took a leave of absence to investigate the Dreadnought-class starships being constructed by Star Trek's Section 31 at the behest of iral Alexander Marcus (Peter Weller). However, he was soon back in engineering aboard the Enterprise until its subsequent destruction over Altamid. By the end of Star Trek Beyond, Scotty was about to take the role of Chief Engineer aboard the newly minted USS Enterprise-A.
5 Ensign Pavel Chekov, USS Enterprise (Kelvin Timeline)
While Scotty and Keenser investigated the Dreadnought-class starships, Ensign Pavel Chekov (Anton Yelchin) took over as Chief Engineer on the USS Enterprise. The Kelvin timeline's Chekov was something of a prodigy and was just as capable of being Chief Engineer as he was being the navigator of the USS Enterprise. Chekov went back to navigating the Enterprise when Scotty returned to the Enterprise with information about Marcus' plans.
4 Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott, USS Enterprise & Enterprise-A
Scotty was already a very skilled engineer by the time he took the position of Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise. Scotty was also a master of managing expectations, revealing that he would always tell Captain Kirk that a job would take longer than it actually would. Scotty wasn't workshy, however, and was a proper genius when it came to managing the warp drive and transporters. When the Enterprise was demoted to a training ship, Scotty moved on to the Excelsior project, but never felt the same ion for the "great experiment" in transwarp technology.
It's unclear if Scotty worked out the equation for transwarp beaming while working on the Excelsior-class starships, or if he did it at a later point in time. After serving aboard the USS Enterprise-A, Scotty was invited to participate in the first flight of the USS Enterprise-B, where he witnessed Kirk's "death". Scotty was resurrected in the 24th century after he was rescued from a transporter pattern buffer in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Believing himself to no longer be relevant, Scotty realized he still had something to teach the future Starfleet officers, but - in screen canon at least - it's unclear what he did after he left the USS Enterprise-D.
3 Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 Engineers, USS Enterprise-D
In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1, the USS Enterprise-D had a rotation of Chief Engineers, who each stepped up when required by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). The most obvious replacement for Scotty was Lt. Commander Argyle (Biff Yeager), who spoke with a soft Scottish accent and had a suitably Caledonian surname. Lt. Commander Leland T. Lynch (Walker Boone) irritated Picard with his habit of announcing his full name when answering a comms. Meanwhile, Lt. Commander Sarah McDougal (Brooke Bundy) was unaffected by the polywater intoxication in "The Naked Now", which allowed her to aid Commander William T Riker (Jonathan Frakes) in saving the Enterprise from destruction.
And finally, there was Lt. Commander Logan (Vyto Ruginis) who tried to pull rank to take control of the Enterprise when then-Lieutenant Geordi was left in charge during the Minosian incident. La Forge stood his ground and sent his senior officer back to engineering. Interestingly, Logan was the only one of TNG's rotating engineers that didn't later return to serve under La Forge, suggesting that one of the men held a grudge after the events of "The Arsenal of Freedom".
2 Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge, USS Enterprise-D & E
Star Trek: TNG promoted Geordi to Chief Engineer in season 2, he served on both the USS Enterprise-D and E until the final TNG movie, Star Trek: Nemesis. Geordi saved the USS Enterprise-D from destruction many times, most notably when he restored the Galaxy-class starship to its former glory after the crash on Veridian III. Other highlights of Geordi's career include repairing and befriending the abandoned Borg drone Hugh (Jonathan Del Arco), and helping Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell) complete his historic first warp flight in Star Trek: First .
Geordi clearly became something of a legend in Starfleet, because he was the only TNG character to immediately impress Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick). Interestingly, Geordi was initially overwhelmed to meet the legendary Scotty in the TNG episode "Relics", until he began to wonder if it was true what people say about meeting one's heroes. It's possibly for this reason that Geordi shut down Shaw's attempt to "geek out" with him in Star Trek: Picard season 3, to put some distance between him and his own legend.
1 Star Trek: Picard Engineers On The USS Enterprise-F & G
Details are vague on the service history of the USS Enterprise-F, which had several different Captains during its 15 years of service. As the launch of the USS Enterprise-G in the Star Trek: Picard season 3 finale focused on the bridge crew, it's unknown who fills the role of Chief Engineer. If Star Trek: Legacy is commissioned at Paramount+, it wouldn't be surprising if Ensign Alandra La Forge (Mica Burton) follows in her father's footsteps to take up a position in engineering. It would be very fitting for Star Trek's next generation to have another La Forge in engineering.