I did have a date that went into "ongoing", but my poor mental health (from looks and other reasons early in life) has left me pretty dateless in general, technically by my own doing (not really pursuing matches, etc.). But you don't need to be swimming in matches, going on dozens of dates a month. I've had many respond to my basic messages, and even a small few to message me first. One can still settle on getting 1-4 dates a month over nothing, and even date close to or within your standard (from my xp). Thanks to the apps, you find the few in the haystack that aren't that bad looking at all and are also superficially interested in you. Yes this could be considered 'coping' while you wait for this supposed bright future. But that's not how you help your mental health. An important aspect of mental health is acceptance and learning how to work with what you have. I actually thought my matching situation wasn't quite so garbage, until you pointed out the odds I'm working with. But you take what you can get (within your tolerance thresholds), knowing many people can't even date at all. Functional psychology.
Lol I don't think all engineers are boned, but unfortunately yes they may have it harder if their personality and looks aren't a glaring bright spot.