Bob Lutz: What makes a great engineer?

Throughout the 2016 documentary film Live Another Day about the fall and rise of the Detroit-3 automakers, former GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz shows the insight and enthusiasm that made him one of the industry's most effective “product guys” for four decades. While Lutz, now 84, actually holds a marketing MBA, his practical knowledge of aircraft design, systems and aerodynamics learned as a U.S. Marine Corps fighter pilot combined with a life-long love of cars, motorcycles and aircraft made him, as he says, “a close friend of engineers and designers.” He spoke recently with editor-in-chief Lindsay Brooke.

I've met many good engineers in my +30 years covering the industry. But what makes a great one?