The best engineer I ever worked with was a guy who worked 30 years on the shop floor before deciding to take night classes so he could work in the air conditioned design lab.
He actually understood that the things he designed had to translate into the real world through processes that had to be completed in a matter of seconds rather than hours.
Amen to that as well brother.
The best design engineers are folks that started repairing hardware.
It’s kind of like being a mustang officer.
There are lots of guys with book smarts that just don’t see some of the real world problems.