Originally Posted by Blackfire:I always saw Geordi (after his move to Engineering in TNG season 3) as more of a manager than a gearhead.
Without a doubt it would be Scotty, la forge was a joke of an engineer.
Although he did figure things out himself sometimes, Geordi's real talent seemed to lie more in getting people working together to solve a problem than in jumping under the hood himself. I think this explains why he once created a holographic character (Leah Brahms) to help him figure out a solution to a difficult problem, and why (in VOY: "Timeless") he appeared as the captain of his own ship: Command was always where he was really headed. Chief Engineer was just something he did on the way.
That doesn't make LaForge a bad engineer -- just a different kind.
But in terms of hardcore, "Yeah, I can make it work"... Scotty rules.
