I am also an engineer by trade (now on the dark side - project management).
Pro for metric: simpler maths (no fractions!), easier setup, and most plywood is 18 or 19 mm.
Pro for inch: scale of inch is easier to us for large projects like house just due to inch is such larger size than a mm.
In the end, woodworking is fitting and templating and the scale does not matter a whole lot unless you are setting datos or fitting slot widths. Most of the time i am cutting up on a line and smoothing it out with finer tools such as a hand plane or sander. After it is is more the resolution of the tool's settings.
just my 2cents.