Sorry, but I guess I should have been less generalizing about the hardware in comparing a laptop to a tablet. You would be correct in your statement, if we were using Windows 7 on a tablet. Android and iOS don't require pc type hardware to run the OS at performance levels equivalent to or faster than a laptop.
Its not merely "faster". A tablet does not equal laptop performance and capabilities PERIOD. Even the best video editing and photo editing software on a tablet can't compare in terms of features and capabilities to older versions of PowerDirector, Vegas Pro or even Photoshop. Neither does the Office programs on a tablet even able to compare in terms of features to MS Office 2003, let alone 2007 and 2010, due to hardware deficiencies. Even if we're talking about performance, a desktop browser will always be faster and more correct in rendering pages than a tablet due to the sheer simplicity of having a more capable processor. An Android tablet can't run multitasking properly like a laptop can due to both hardware and OS limitations.
A tablet can run fast without needed PC level hardware for the simple fact that it can't run PC level software tools either. Of course a calculator will be able to compute numbers as fast as a PC despite having weaker hardware, because its all it can do and nothing else. Similar to a tablet, its the same analogy: a PC requires better hardware because it can do stuff that requires that level of hardware. Lets see you create frame by frame video special effects comparable to what is done by Adobe After Effects on your tablet.
While I do agree that for an average user of such programs a tablet may be enough, for power users its not. In the OP's case, an engineering student may need a variety of programs which may or may not be available for tablets. I for one know that the AUTOCAD program on tablets is quite a bit limited compared to that on a PC.
The simple reason you can do all the things you want from your laptop on your netbook/laptop is simply a testament to the fact that you aren't a power user, and is more of a consumer of media.
Lets see a regular usage of my laptop for me in a day:
I want to be able to listen to a video/audio recording of a lecture from class while typing notes with an couple of ebooks open as well for reference, plus a browser with 10 tabs or so open. Yes a tablet can do that, but not as smoothly as a laptop can. A single button can pause the audio as I type, or rewind it a few secs without me even having to break my typing (dedicated buttons for media in the keyboard are a norm in new laptops). I can have floating windows of ebooks and the web browser around. Trying to do so on a tablet will just cause me frustration for the mere fact that switching to the browser with such content will find me waiting for the browser to reload again because it was taken out of memory.
Or how about when I go about my other non school stuff? I do vector drawings, I am also the layout editor for the school paper using Photoshop/CorelDraw and MS Publisher. None of those can be used as effectively on a tablet. How about making that AVP video we would be presenting? The concept is a stop motion video that would last 3min long. And I have about 2000+pics to look at to put into it.
Choosing a tablet over a laptop is not a mere fact of availability of apps. Its a case of what an individual does on his device that makes the difference. The things I do with my laptop are stuff that would either be frustrating to do on a tablet, or sheer impossible (good luck on your tablet's RAM and processor to load 1000+ photos to produce an HD video). In my case, a tablets main use would be a monitor extension, a larger window for my ebooks while keeping a larger window for OneNote.
In your case, a tablet is capable enough for your needs. A tablet will not be able to replace full powered laptops. It is however a viable replacement for a netbook, which in the first place cannot replace a laptop either.
You may want to wait for the A15 quad cores. They're the next gen tablet processors, and they are claimed to have the power level of the older generation dual core PCs. But then, those would be for raw benchmarking. The nature of the environment they would be operating would be what limits their capabilities.