I have to say, reading JF's writing in Flyer (or on my rare but happy opportunities to listen to him in person) usually leaves me with one of two standard reactions:-
(1) I agree completely, or
(2) Bu99er me, that's interesting, I wish I knew that before.
In this case my reaction to that article was (1).
I get privately and professionally irritated by two classes of people in my profession. The first is pilots who refuse to take an active interest in the machinery that they are operating, the second is engineers who consider engineering their sole territory and refuse either to take an interest in flying, or to talk to aircrew about the engineering issues.
(Actually there's a third, "Engineers" who think that because they've been given a 6 month training course, just completed a degree, or played in their garage a bit and somebody's given them a fancy job title, it puts them on a par with somebody who has done a 5 year apprenticeship or has completed the 8+ year route to Chartered or Incorporated Engineer - but that's irrelevant to the particular discussion.)
Me? I'm both, and don't think that I could do either job fully competently if I didn't have a reasonable grasp of the other.
Yes it does take time, effort, and a certain amount of bloodymindedness. But doesn't pursuing any aerospace career successfully.
G