The technical rigour required to be a good engineer can act as a filter. It selects for people who are brilliant at precision and detail, but it quietly filters out those who might think laterally, challenge assumptions, or bring imagination to the table.

Why does reuse still feel like an uphill battle? We need an approach that treats materials not as static commodities, but as elements within a living, adaptive, and often circular system.

Phrases like “circular economy principles” and “design for disassembly” are meaningless if materials are never actually recovered