If one thinks doing simple derivatives is a chore, I'd suggest a career other than engineering.

I've known many engineers who practiced math avoidance. None of them were worth much as engineers.

I know a recruiter who would ask engineering candidates what is 20% of 20,000, without using a calculator or phoning a friend. He was surprised at how many could not, and it was an easy way to filter out the no hires.

It's a trivial task and certainly does not require attending an early morning class. In fact, most engineering does not require the degree. Almost everything in the field is self-learnable in a short period. The reason the students are in the class at 0750 is not to learn how to do this, since it is trivial and almost everyone I know could do it by the 10th standard two years prior to college. It's because no matter what you know, the credential is bestowed by 4 year attendance of 0750 classes, and the credential is what the university provides.

> I've known many engineers who practiced math avoidance. None of them were worth much as engineers.

I have an engineering degree and did "real" engineering (electronics/semiconductors) before switching to SW.

Almost all my engineering courses required calculus knowledge. None of my real engineering jobs benefited from it.

And I say that as someone who tried to find any and every excuse to use calculus at work. I love calculus.

My role is not an outlier. Every grad who came back to talk to students said the same.