My area of expertise, is taking what the engineers deliver and figuring out how to make it work. At the end of the 70's, I recognized the direction of the scavenger systems in automotive design and promptly switched everything I owned, to synthetic oil. At the beginning of the smog crisis, the manufacturers enacted a pretty much a bandaid approach to engineering. The standards are set by the government and the manufacturers, had to figure out how to meet the standards, as cheaply as possible. The consequences of this engineering appraoch, were secondary.
As far as resume' goes, the guys that designed many of todays motors, where hands on engineers and many of the base designs, have been around for 60 years or more. The original designers, actually didn´t have much of a resume'.
Following the accelerated maintenance schedule, along with normal wear and tear maintenance. Can quickly account for 1/4 to 1/3 rd of the purchase price of your auto, in 7-8 years.
I´d like to see a study, that accounts for the pollution from manufacturing, as to compared to maintenance costs and vehicle life expectancy. The consumer is often paying, more for less and the manufacturers are pumping them out faster.