Thanks again for the pointers earlier Kyren - I had a really successful night: 9 games, 4 wins, streak of 3 so far. One of them lasted like 10 or 20 minutes and was fairly epic.
I'm getting the impression that Engineer is a semi-thankless job though. I'm just stuck towards the back twiddling my thumbs until something happens (while the more experienced crew "bonks" my stations anyways), and even then, a major attack usually eats through the hull too fast to repair it (I still blame the Pilot).
Overall, I'm having a blast with everything.
It unfortunately is. Unless you repair out of a hairy situation to where the captain can pull off a maneuver and save the situation, engineers are pretty much taken for granted. Cant say I agree with it, but you get the idea.
Instead of chilling at the back, make yourself be more fluid around the ship. Try to see where the other engie is going, and let him do his work while you do something else. And a real important sub-task of the engie is spotting other ships that the captain otherwise would miss due to line-of-sight.
There will be times where you sit there and feel useless, but to me as captain, its the ever present assurance that when damage is incoming, my engies are ready.
Good to hear its panning out for you.