Thorsen's opening comments in yesterday's ISC video did a lot to address the question of what they want Engineering to be.
I've also had huge concerns about it being an un-fun chore. In the PTU patches it's overwhelmed every other aspect of playing the game.
But he made clear that the intent now is for Engineering to "extend the lifetime of the ship, rather than making your life miserable on a ship". A very clear way to express the change in development.