Adequate, Not Best [State of the Art]

What almost all students and many faculty members don’t realize is that engineering design/application solutions are rarely the best (or optimal). Indeed, most engineering solutions could probably be described as adequate. The best solutions are too costly, either in terms of the time required to develop them or resources expended. Adequate solutions meet the required specifications and not much more. There is certainly an element of creativity and intelligence involved in the engineering design process, but there also must be a certain amount of restraint.