This makes a lot of sense and echoes my experience. I'm lucky enough to study Engineering at one of the (if not the) top universities for Engineering in the UK. It also has a reputation for being one of the most theoretical in the country.

Right from day one, we have design orientated tasks, whether or not it's a structural design project linking in with our structures course, or designing an automated robot in a team from scratch (combining the mechanical, software and electrical courses). I think they've realised that people become Engineers because they want to see the fruits of their labour physically and not just in a purely mathematical sense.

I know without these design projects and frequent lectures from leaders in industry I would quickly lose sight of what I'm actually doing and would almost certainly have transferred course.