[whatever1]

Not a CE myself, but computer engineers definitely consider physics in their solutions since they have to consider complexity, computational speed, memory restrictions, concurrency etc

Aka they take fundamental theoretical concepts and given the physical constraints we have from the existing computing systems they come up with viable solutions.

[Antoniocl]

I agree that the work that CEs do in the vein of what you're describing is closer to my conception of engineering.

I also don't think most people who call themselves a "software engineer" fit that description though. My guess would be less than 10%?