Ignoring most of your comment and only focusing on this part: > the world needs smart people like you solving real problems It has them. And they’re doing pre

Ignoring most of your comment and only focusing on this part: > the world needs smart people like you solving real problems It has them. And they’re doing pretty much exactly this. What’s described in the OP resembles a pretty standard machine design process – the key is splitting up the complex goal into smaller manageable units. (And using tools for the tedious parts such as gear math; if the tools don’t exist, you of course develop your own!) The author was presumably able to do this because they’ve already solved a real problem or two.