[EricH]

Throw me into the group. While I haven't personally made robot parts on a machine (unless you count drilling and countersinking holes on a drill press), I just love watching those chips fly.

ayeckley is right; the engineer needs to know what the machinist goes through. My shop instructor once told a story about an engineer who was mad because his part was costing too much/taking too long. Then the machinist showed him the specs--the tolerance was in the ten-thousandths range. (As we all know, that's pretty hard to get to.)