Question: what do you think is the best criteria to have as an engineer?

Ivan Merrick answered on 11 Mar 2019:

Imagination, Curiosity, Inquisitiveness. These are the most important criteria to do science and engineering.
When I ask this question when I visit schools over 90 % of the answers I get is Maths. It is true you cannot do science and engineering without maths but it is not the most important criteria.
Mathematics is the language we use to describe the physical universe around us. It’s the only thing we have found that does it very well. Science and Engineering starts in our minds. It is where we think about problems and come up with solutions. These solutions are written in the language of maths. If you can write down your ideas in the language of maths then anyone anywhere in the world who knows the language too will immediately understand your ideas.
If you went to Japan you would find it very hard to communicate with the people if you did not know Japanese. But if you knew Japanese they would be able to fully understand you when you told them of your ideas.
Maths is the language of Science and Engineering. If you understand it and learn how to use it properly then you will always be able to communicate your scientific and engineering ideas.