How do you propose identifying these "skilled software engineers"? University doesn't teach "professional software engineering" so all these hotshots coming out

How do you propose identifying these "skilled software engineers"? University doesn't teach "professional software engineering" so all these hotshots coming out of school into industry can't be what you're looking for. There is no standards body defining the skills one needs to be considered professional. There is no responsibility on practitioners unlike other engineering professions. If a mechanical engineer screws up and causes death, it's going to be bad for them. Software routinely screws up with no consequence. Hell, take two "software engineers" from FAANG and give them a piece of code and they won't agree on whether it's good or bad. None of this is to excuse poorly written scientific code, but if "professional software engineers" want to throw rocks, maybe they should fix their own glass house first.