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WJ, In regards to mechanical engineering, I would argue based on my experience that intelligent intervention is required to produce functional systems. If evolution were a good methodology for the functional micromachines that run the cell, I would expect that the methodology would also hold true for much less sophisticated systems that carry out much fewer interrelated functions . . .
Would you accept a program that relies on evolutionary algorithms to create design, design that works. Check out
3D simulation and evolution | Framsticks or do a search for framsticks. These are workable models whose design is the sole product of mutation and selection. The interesting thing is that the framstick designs are suboptimal when compared to man made designs in some instances. This is very similar to what we find in nature, design that is suboptimal compared to how humans would have designed it. Take your eyes, for example. The nerves actually pierce through the retina and fold back onto the rods and cones. So, when you recieve light from the environment it actually has to pass through capillaries and nerves before hitting the photsensitive cells. This is suboptimal, but in evolutionary terms, good enough. Humans would have wired the retina so that the nerves enter from the back side of the retina since this would increase the resolution of the retina. Again, non-intelligent design is apparent in nature, as is shown by designs created by algorithms based on evolutionary mechanisms.
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