As a morale building exercise, we have an annual Christmas cubicle decorating concept at my office.
There are individual and team prizes for the best decorations.
The first year that we held it, whort declared in a typically alpha geek fashion "Christmas is a solvable Engineering problem!" He then constructed a stunning domed trellis over top of his cubicle, strung with holly and ribbon and Christmas lights. It was awesome - light yet visually rich, with pleasing curved lines. It transformed the cubicle from a box into a sort of festive gazebo.
I was convinced that whort had proved his hypothesis and that he would win.
kamamer was one of the judges that year. I forget whom he and the rest of the judging panel chose to bestow the decorating prize on, but I'm sure her decorations favoured enthusiasm over engineering prowess.
whort didn't speak to kamamer for months afterward. In morale terms, it was a disaster on the order of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
I don't know whether this means that Christmas is a solvable Engineering problem or not.