I see this a lot here and I feel that I should point it out; industrial design is an engineering discipline. It is similar to architecture in many respects.
Thanks for the clarification. I actually watched "objectified" - http://player.vimeo.com/video/50944978 today, a good documentary about industrial design.
It's a great documentary, certainly one I'd recommend to everyone here. If you haven't seen them already, I highly recommend Helvetica and Urbanized.