The skills gap mention in the article is real.

Yes, but ...

When I went into structural analysis, the company (Boeing) wanted a minimum of a MS in Civil or Mechanical Engineering. We were placed in the tutelage of a senior analyst to learn the trade. I dabbled in some computer programming to ease the onerous routine calculations. My lead engineer clucked, but allowed it.

In my last years working in structures, I saw many completely incompetent people calling themselves "stress analysts". They had learned to use the available computer programs (PATRAN, NASTRAN), but they had no idea how to interpret the results. And knowing how to create a model didn't mean the model was useful. This was at Boeing and Hughes. Doesn't give me a warm fuzzy. Fortunately there is still a lot of structural testing before a product is released to the public.

Count Upp