The paper is devoted to a sociological study of Russian engineering education in the context of the sociology of professions and the conditions for the transformation of social demand. The paper focuses on the sociological research of Russian engineering education in the context of the social demand transformation.The authors clarify the concept of the 'social mandate in engineering education', its' actors are specified. The basic characteristics of the new institutional design of the modern technical universities and the new role of the knowledge economy are discussed, their economic and social functions are determined. The authors conducted a mass and expert sociological survey of all stakeholders involved in the social mandate interaction (engineering education -science -industry -state -society), carried out an analysis of the regional specifics of engineering education in terms of transformation, taking St. Petersburg as an example. The basic provisions for the modernization of Russian engineering education in the context of the national innovation system have been developed.