Because I started there as a newbie along with the formula pluggers. I could see what I could do vs what they could do. For example, one task required coming up with the spinning moment of inertia of the jackscrew assembly. A plugger sat a couple rows away, and looked at it, and asked "what book did you get that formula out of?" I said it wasn't in a book, so I used calculus. He just stared at me. He was a nice enough fellow, but didn't seem real interested in engineering, and would try to get by doing as little as possible.
I discovered that an undergraduate degree at Caltech conferred math skills that other universities put off until masters. Because I'd fix the math work of some of them, too. Over time, I was trusted more and more with more advanced work. The pluggers weren't.
I was an average student at Caltech.
I have little idea how Caltech compares today. But I've run into the formula pluggers in diverse engineering areas ever since. They would have all flunked out of Caltech.
I'm not sure why you question the notion that being able to understand where formulas come from is far more valuable than just memorizing them.
I'm sure there are other great universities that educate engineers that actually understand what they're doing rather than plugging in a formula. But I have no personal experience with them.
Wasn't your point that Caltech would have taught them not to be formula-pluggers?
It was just a school, man, relax, you're not actually better than other people.
My point in posting this here is not to brag, but to point out that a college education doesn't have to consist of memorizing formulas. If a particular college program requires that, there are better choices.
Being able to derive the formulas means one knows their limitations. It also means that one can derive a needed formula when it is not in the book. This means that one can solve a significantly larger set of engineering problems.
In aircraft design, this leads to lighter and less expensive parts without sacrificing strength or utility. It's an objectively better design.
Making one who can do this objectively a better engineer.
What is relevant is if one's engineering class consists of memorizing formulas, find a better class that emphasizes the how and the why. Math is a big part of that.
Caltech's engineering program had tests that were open book open note. Memorization would not work. You had to actually understand it.
Posts like yours make me appreciate Caltech.
P.S. My first job was designing the 757 stabilizer jackscrew assembly. I was flying on a 757 just the other day, 40 years later. How marvelous! It's a great airplane.
P.P.S. We had a few "formula memorizers" and "formula pluggers" at Boeing. I was often assigned to go over their work and fix it. Nobody trusted them.