# Appendix A — Becoming a Project Frankenstein Engineer

Project Frankenstein does not assume prior expertise in Panasonic MN103S, SCSI, ATAPI, optical-drive firmware, firmware emulation, or capability engineering.

The project assumes willingness to learn unfamiliar systems from evidence.

The original effort began with basic reverse-engineering experience, hobbyist programming and electronics knowledge, broad computer-science knowledge, and professional experience outside software and electrical engineering. Domain expertise was acquired during the project through disciplined investigation.

A new engineer should learn:

1. how evidence is separated from interpretation;
2. how hardware validation constrains models;
3. how provenance and negative knowledge are preserved;
4. how firmware and media engineering reinforce one another;
5. how capabilities are modeled before modification;
6. how discoveries enter institutional memory.

Project Frankenstein engineers are made, not found.
