noobermin, I don't think this is an accurate comparison, for a few reasons. First, I'm not proposing that engineers need to write their own FEM tools. I am pro

noobermin, I don't think this is an accurate comparison, for a few reasons. First, I'm not proposing that engineers need to write their own FEM tools. I am proposing that engineers understand how FEM works, so that they can understand where it can fail. I would not expect an IT security expert to write his own ssh, but I would expect him to understand the ways in which ssh can fail. But second, ssh is not like FEM. With ssh, once you have a solid implementation, it sort of doesn't matter what data you put through it. But the issue with FEM analysis is that every FEM model is different, and the generation of those models is almost always algorithmic, not manual. An engineer should have either a freat intuitive feel for how well a FEM model will match reality, or straightforward mathematical ways to double-check the output of an FEM analysis.