I whole-heartedly agree with the following brief article on sketching for engineers. Please take a few minutes and read what this engineer has to say. Sketching improves the ideas, brings forth solutions, and drives the work forward.
http://mechanical-engineering.in/forum/blog/209/entry-774-the-importance-of-sketching/
In my 12th year of coaching college engineering students, I concur with David Goldberg in his assertion that engineering students are missing eight skills critical to being a complete, effective, and whole engineer. View his talk at TEDxUIUC, “7 Missing Basics of Engineering.” My Engineering Stories are an attempt to encourage engineering students to practice many of these skills.