Tolerances, materials, failure modes — defend the design.
Start a session with Anton →“Walk me through a recent project you're proud of.”
Every session ends with a written report scored on these three axes, with the transcript attached so you can see what earned each mark.
Can they walk someone through a physical design in a sensible order — requirement, concept, calculation, validation — without a whiteboard, and say which numbers they are sure of?
First-principles sizing, material and process selection with reasons, realistic failure modes, sensible factors of safety, and knowing which standards govern the work.
Stating an estimate and its assumptions rather than hedging, conceding cleanly when a figure is challenged, and saying "I would have to calculate that" instead of guessing.