Assist 2 Develop's Grinding Gears podcast

In this episode, we speak with Amit Marathe about HP's Fitstation which has been adopted by the NFL. Learn more about Amit's journey of discovery and how Fitstation combines multiple engineering disciplines, artificial intelligence, and 3D Printing technology to create custom footwear. During our conversation, Amit also shares how more small to medium-sized businesses can begin to leverage AI to deliver customized customer experiences. 

Learn more about HP's Fitstation:

https://www.fitstation.com/

And their partnership with the NFL:

The NFL has announced its adoption of the FitStation powered by HP platform, which uses 3D scanning technology to provide users with personalized footwear recommendations.

https://press.ext.hp.com/us/en/press-releases/2018/3d-scanning-technology-from-hp--to-provide-nfl-players-with-cust.html

Connect with Amit on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amitmarathe1/

In this episode, we connect with Agustin Lebron, who is an angel investor, consultant, and former electrical engineer. Agustin shares his methodology for calculating risks and the role that online poker played. Agustin also shares why most engineers aren't prepared for a management role.

Here is an excerpt from Agustin's book "The Laws of Trading: A Trader's Guide to Better Decision-Making for Everyone (Wiley Trading)"

"For years, behavioral and cognitive scientists have shown us how human decision-making is flawed and biased. But how do you learn to avoid these problems in day-to-day decisions where you have to react in real-time? What are the important things to think about and to act on?"

We dive into Agustin's decision making process and how engineers can apply these principles.

Connect with Agustin on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/agustinlebron/

Part two furthers the conversation with Steve Rader (deputy director of crowdsourced innovation at NASA) & Yehya ElMaraghi (former senior lean officer at SpaceX now independent consultant). In this episode, we discuss the role of design challenges and how Assist 2 Develop plans to leverage design challenges to help solve the skills gap in engineering and manufacturing.

Steve Rader:

Twitter: @steverader, @NASA_NTL

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-rader-92b7754/

Yehya ElMaraghi https://www.linkedin.com/in/elmaraghi/

Part one of this two-part episode features Steve Rader (deputy director of crowdsourced innovation at NASA) & Yehya ElMaraghi (former senior lean officer at SpaceX) who engage in a spirited dialogue regarding the future of work. Steve shares how NASA leverages crowdsourcing/freelancers for innovation and Yehya talks about the future of continuous improvement and how more specialized consultants will play a role in the future of work.

Steve Rader:

Twitter: @steverader, @NASA_NTL

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-rader-92b7754/

Yehya ElMaraghi https://www.linkedin.com/in/elmaraghi/

In this episode, we spoke with Nick Reed Smith about his experience and how companies can establish a culture of innovation. 

Nick is the Innovation Process Manager at JBM Packaging and he works with customers to identify unmet opportunities and lead internal project teams that bring new products to market. Nick learned the innovation engineering process at Eureka Ranch. Here is the description and reason for creating the program taken directly from their website:

A NEW FIELD OF ACADEMIC STUDY AND LEADERSHIP SCIENCE
DEDICATED TO ENABLING A CULTURE OF INNOVATION
RESULTING IN INCREASED SPEED (UP TO 6X)
AND SUCCESS RATES (UP TO 10X).

Everyone says they WANT a culture of innovation, but the question is HOW do you go beyond rhetoric and intention and make it happen? 

Below are a few of Nick's accomplishments:

• Brought new products to market resulting in millions of dollars of new revenue and profit
• Designed and conducted more than 400 R&D experiments in one year, a new company record
• Developed project prioritization procedure resulting in faster project turn-around
• Established manufacturing talent pipeline by partnering with a local nonprofit organization

Nick shared a few additional thoughts on the Assist 2 Develop blog:

How Innovation Can Work for You

In this episode, we caught up with Travis Jacobs who is the founder of JA Simulations to discuss the seven deadly sins of product development and the pitfalls to avoid when designing & developing products.

The Truth is we can't afford to release bad products to the market, competition is fierce, and innovation is everywhere. Long design cycles are a thing of the past, customers want innovation & have a low tolerance for bad products.

Here is a preview of the most common pitfalls

• The Pregnant Woman Theory
• Champagne On A Beer Budget
• Good, Fast, Cheap ... Pick Any Two

You can read the article in its entirety here:

https://www.ja-simulations.com/blog/the-7-deadly-sins-of-product-development

Grinding Gears is sponsored by:
Assist 2 Develop: www.assist2develop.com
SolidWorks: www.solidworks.com

Download a copy of the Ebook: The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Positioning Your Firm to Thrive:

bit.ly/2NoKBqv-4th-industrial-revolution-Ebook

In this episode of the Grinding Gears Podcast we spoke with P.J. Tezza who is the CEO of Modvans. P.J. was writing code in Silicon Valley, but thanks to a lucrative exit, he was able to explore the west coast in an RV. However, the limitations and lack of flexibility of an RV pushed P.J. to design and manufacture a customizable/modular campervan. This episode chronicles his journey from writing code, to creating CNC tool paths to help others live the #Vanlife

https://www.modvans.com/

Grinding Gears is sponsored by:
Assist 2 Develop: www.assist2develop.com
SolidWorks: www.solidworks.com/

Download a copy of the Ebook: The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Positioning Your Firm to Thrive: bit.ly/2NoKBqv-4th-industrial-revolution-Ebook

In this episode of the Grinding Gears podcast, we speak with Clemson professor's Josh Summers and Laine Mears about the new center for advanced manufacturing, why they're putting humans back at the center of manufacturing, and the economic impact manufacturing has on the I85 corridor. 

Laine and Josh also give a preview of an unprecedented forum on how higher education can best partner with industry to meet the needs of advanced manufacturers. See below:

Top-level executives from some of South Carolina’s largest and most influential companies are coming together in Greenville on Oct. 9 for an unprecedented forum on how higher education can best partner with industry to meet the needs of advanced manufacturers. Here are the list of participants from the event:

Knudt Flor, president and CEO of BMW Manufacturing

Mike Mansuetti, president of Bosch North America

Scott Clark, chairman and president of Michelin North America

Dochul Choi, senior vice president for global business and technology strategies, Samsung Electronics America

Wolfgang Rubrecht, vice president, strategy and business development at Siemens

Tim Hardee, president of the South Carolina Technical College System

Grinding Gears is sponsored by:
Assist 2 Develop: www.assist2develop.com
SolidWorks: www.solidworks.com/

Download a copy of the Ebook: The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Positioning Your Firm to Thrive: http://bit.ly/2NoKBqv-4th-industrial-revolution-Ebook

In part two of our conversation with James Trevelyan you will learn more about the skills gap in engineering, what drives commercial value for investors, and how you can make yourself a lot more money and what it takes to become an expert engineer.

Grinding Gears is sponsored by:
Assist 2 Develop: www.assist2develop.com
SolidWorks: www.solidworks.com/

Download a copy of the Ebook: The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Positioning Your Firm to Thrive: http://bit.ly/2NoKBqv-4th-industrial-revolution-Ebook

Get a copy of James's book: The Making of an Expert Engineer:
jamesptrevelyan.com/
And here is a project James is currently involved in:
closecomfort.com/

The first episode of Grinding Gears features James Trevelyan who is the author of a book titled "The Making of an Expert Engineer.” In this episode, James shares his journey as an engineer, why it’s more expensive to do work overseas, and how to avoid frustration as an up and coming engineer. This episode is part one of our conversation.

Grinding Gears is sponsored by:
Assist 2 Develop: www.assist2develop.com
SolidWorks: www.solidworks.com/

Download a copy of the Ebook: The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Positioning Your Firm to Thrive: ohttp://bit.ly/2NoKBqv-4th-industrial-revolution-Ebook

Get a copy of James's book: The Making of an Expert Engineer:
jamesptrevelyan.com/
And here is a project James is currently involved in:
closecomfort.com/