My experience has been different. The backgrounds of the best engineers that I’ve worked with has been extremely varied: CS, History, Physics, Economics, Psychology, EE, etc..
However, one of the most frustrating colleagues has been a former Chemical Engineer. In 15 years, he has only implemented new technologies when absolutely forced to by people higher in org chart, even when the need is beyond obvious. He fought against 64-bit computing, hypervisor virtualization, automated config management, privileged account management, SaaS apps, and IaaS cloud platforms.
So, I don’t think that you can determine whether someone is a good engineer solely based on their background. I just try to stay away from the people who want to change everything and the people who want to change nothing.
However, one of the most frustrating colleagues has been a former Chemical Engineer. In 15 years, he has only implemented new technologies when absolutely forced to by people higher in org chart, even when the need is beyond obvious. He fought against 64-bit computing, hypervisor virtualization, automated config management, privileged account management, SaaS apps, and IaaS cloud platforms.
So, I don’t think that you can determine whether someone is a good engineer solely based on their background. I just try to stay away from the people who want to change everything and the people who want to change nothing.