You are probably largely correct. A couple of counter-examples. They are from the Apollo program, hopefully they qualify as roughly equivalent. NASA decided

You are probably largely correct. A couple of counter-examples. They are from the Apollo program, hopefully they qualify as roughly equivalent. NASA decided they needed honeycomb composites to insulate fuel tanks, but could not come up with the correct engineering to build them properly. Hired surfers to solve the problem. http://www.sciencechannel.com/video-topics/space-videos/moon-machines-surfers/ http://www.sciencechannel.com/video-topics/space-videos/moon... The Apollo space suits were designed and constructed by Playtex, a garment manufacturer. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/neil-armstrongs-spacesuit-was-made-by-a-bra-manufacturer-3652414/ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/neil-armstrongs-spaces...