You hit the mail on the head. Most engineers I worked with have never worked in a trade. You can spot then because they have the most ass backwards thinking and designs and common sense seems to escape them. On the other hand an engineer who has worked in a trade of some sort and has had hands on the tools usually make great engineers. I belive if you ate going to be an engineer you should have at least 2 years in the respective trade so you have some knowledge of your craft. Same with QC and weld inspectors. I work with them daily and just by liking at a weld map or a set of drawings you can usually tell the level of experience that engineer has in the field.
I completely agree, most of the tards I went to school with didn't know the correct end of a screwdriver let along a wrench (and this was mechanical engineering lol). I pissed off a few teachers along the way that didn't have field experience by asking questions and stumping them in front of the class... usually didn't en well, but still fun!
It scares the shit out of me knowing that these kids got into jobs that can potentially kill hundreds to millions of people. I am very thankful that I got into mechanics and working with my hands before going to school for engineering. And now being in our industry in the engineering side of it, my past experiences have only helped excel me in my career :woott: