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I doubt SpaceX would be a thing if Elon didn't have engineering capabilities.

I have read that when he gets interested in a technical area, he reads a ton of books at a remarkably fast pace, remembers everything he reads, next analyses everything at a fundamental level, and finally comes up with a radically better plan than anyone else has before. I guess you could call that engineering capabilities.

If that's not engineering I don't know what is.

I had three peers in my entire engineering classes like that. Two became PhDs, one has changed fields and applied himself rapidly.

I wasn't like them, but that ability to understand on a fundamental level, not forget, and then very quickly tackle more and more complex problems so fast was like a superpower. It took me much much longer, without the detailed understanding.

he's intimately involved in every aspect of the design of the vehicles. For example, he's personally responsible for the change to steel construction and had to convince the rest of the team to switch from composites.

He is has been the Chief Designer for SpaceX since Falcon 1.