@Mike

I assure you that majority of engineers I have worked with need a lot of direction on what to invest their time in, and what not to. In my experience it is comparatively rare to find engineers that really focus on requirements as they develop the technical solutions, most are satisfied with providing function but cannot be accused of satisfying cost, maintainability, manufacturability or a host of other DFX topics. I work as a systems engineer and we develop reasonably complex food packaging systems.