This is what I'm hoping to do with a software background going to more traditional engineering.
It's just a little offputting when people talk about the tools they (have) to use -- When I first started, I would never have expected Excel to be so prominent, and Matlab so absent.
Because not every engineer is a programmer. Especially not every non-CS/EE engineer. Especially not every non-CS/EE engineer over ~30.
Yes, they've been exposed to programming at some level, but they are not programmers. Even as a late-20s mech engineer, I am far above most of my peers when it comes to slinging code and I'm a rank amateur. Many wouldn't even want to touch it.
You're mistakingly assuming that the path of least resistance is "teach non-CS/EE engineer to program because they are technically minded and can easily pick it up" rather than "adapt mathematical process to suit excel".
It's just a little offputting when people talk about the tools they (have) to use -- When I first started, I would never have expected Excel to be so prominent, and Matlab so absent.