Engineers may be considered primarily as problem solvers, most of the projects they work on centre on solving some form of problem. Whether that be designing a new safety device, a new wing for a plane or a simple switch for a light. There is a problem and the engineer must solve it. Mentioned in chapter 1 was Alec Issigonis who developed the Mini for the British Motor Corporation, the challenge he had was to gain the maximum amount of interior space possible for the smallest external dimension, while still producing a car that was safe to drive. His solutions, such as transverse front wheel drive and compact rubber suspension were solutions to the problem of maximising interior space. The engineered world is full of cases where engineers are presented with a challenge or problem and then come up with a solution.

Engineers must be able to communicate their ideas in verbal, written and graphical forms. Some engineers will need to make presentations where they talk to a design explaining its features. They will probably be assisted nowadays with some form of multimedia presentation. They must be able to develop reports that show the detailed investigation that has gone into investigating and designing a solution. These reports will often be very comprehensive outlining all the research conducted and may even have appendices filled with data that backs up the results and conclusions of the report. Engineers must be able to communicate graphically, years ago this meant large amounts of pencil or ink drawing but nowadays they have been supplanted largely by CAD (Computer Aid Design) software which allows the development of all forms of drawing such as pictorial, orthogonal and assembly drawing. It also allows fully rendered product illustrations. Engineers still use pencils and ink drawings for quick sketches and idea generation prior to developing drawings using CAD software.