I remember at Burningman in maybe '03 or '04, there was this roller coaster with flamethrowers called "The Roaster Roaster" - a friend of mine (who's girlfriend ran straight into the queue to ride it) was asking one of the operators about it:
"So, who designed and built this?"
"Dave did!"
"So who's Dave? Is he an engineer or a roller coaster designer in real life? How did he know how to build it safely?"
"It's _Dave_ man! Dave can build _anything!_"
Hahaha, well we were a chip company so the potential disaster scenarios weren't as pronounced. (though of of the NPI guys crushed his finger in one of the testers :()
The guy could build anything from the scrappiest and unexpected of parts and appliances.