Beers with Engineers

By Bert Uschold

The Beers with Engineers podcast is an engineering podcast where Bert Uschold sits down with Engineers from a wide range of disciplines, from all across the world, and we talk about work and laugh

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FAQs about Beers with Engineers:

How many episodes does Beers with Engineers have?

The podcast currently has 75 episodes available.

Beers with Engineers episodes:

August 10, 2026Maria Shcherbakova: Brains, blood, and boats
#68 – Maria Shcherbakova: Brains, blood, and boats
Maria is a neuroengineer in Philadelphia, from Luxembourg
Petrichor – that smell after it rains (sometimes)
Maria likes Guinness and California cider
"Shch” in her last name stems from being born in Moscow Russia and having a Cyrillic passport.
Luxembourgers and Liechtensteiners – competitive with each other over banks and cows.
Saw her first open brain surgery at 18 – hooked her the field
Spent a summer shadowing a neurosurgeon
Created her own major at Stanford
Briefly, neuroengineers are trying to map the pathways of the brain so they can externally perturb he system to fix it. Think Neuralink
Specializes in movement disorders.
A different form of blood doping. Will it work?
Are blood donors doing it already?
PRP therapy – platelet replenishment therapy – locally promotes healing
Also used for acne
Ham sandwich – rowing term and yoga term
Good practical jokes
Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com
Adjustable Inserts – www.bertsinserts.com
Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop
Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".
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1h 5min
July 27, 2026Rachel Cox: UFOs, Aliens, and Em Dashes
Show Notes
#67 – Rachel Cox: UFOs, aliens, and em dashes..
Engineer turned writer who considered art.
Kelly Slater is a surfer
Co-oped and worked for NASA and worked on a lunar robot
Transition to writing was gradual.
Rachel and Bert like using the em dash.
UFOs and aliens are fun to get into.
UFO or UAP? Unidentified aerial/anomalous phenomena.
Movie Arrival – the aliens look like octopi.
Cuttlefish Video
The Drake Equation
Did aliens help with the pyramids?
Grew up in Louisville but never went to the Kentucky Derby
Rachel recommends Becoming A Best Boss
Did design for color blindness
Color palette information
Bang Wong – science-based color pallettes
Martin Krzywinski – prettier than Bang Wong’s
Paul Tol – further improvement for engineers and scientists
Mitch Albom is a great writer. “Tuesdays with Morrie” and others
Rachel likes mixed-medium art.
Rachel wants to meet aliens smarter than us.
Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com
Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop
Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".
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1h 5min
July 08, 2026Topher Anderson: Textiles are Everywhere
#66 – Topher Anderson: Textiles are Everywhere
Topher is short for Christopher: Textile Topher.
FYI, Bert is short for Robert.
Likes to drink Westvleteren 12, a Belgian beer.
Warp and weft – warp is up and down and weft is weft and white
Everything is interesting if you look at it close enough.
Ropes are a type of textile.
Old mills are very nice functionally and architecturally.
Vast majority of textiles are not apparel.
Persian flaw – an intentional defect.
Skin is a bio-composite textile.
Cotton threads are stronger when wet.
Stitching is also very important.
The Wright Brothers’ mechanic was Charlie Taylor
Current favorite fibers are conductive fibers.
Smart textiles have been 5 years away for 20 years.
Interest in textiles and origami seem to be related.
Topher loves Argentine tango dancing
To reach Topher [email protected], Textile.org
Bert’s Companies – www.dexterityeng.com, bertsinserts.com
Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop

Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".
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1h 4min
June 23, 2026Jay Patel: DFV - Design for Volatility
#65 – Jay Patel: DFV – Design for Volatility
CEO of Amtech – a family business started by his parents.
Not a beer drinker – enjoys Arnold Palmers
SMART goals - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound
For college chose computer science over engineering.
Learned all about the electronics business.
Amtech builds products that build the products that you know.
Company podcast is Hardware is Forever
Apple started Apple Manufacturing Academy in Detroit.
Is everybody quick turn or not?
Lots of people say that – is it always true?
They like to engage before the design is locked, DFM, DFA, and DFV (design for volatility.)
BOMsense.com to check tariffs on your materials.
Just-in-time doesn’t eliminate inventory, it moves it.
Learned Five-S, Lean, and Six Sigma from Wikipedia?
We give kids agency and then we take it away.
Benjamin Hardy books: Be Your Future Self Now, 10X is easier than 2X
Man’s Search for Meaning Victor Frankl
Jay’s company Amtech
Amtech’s company podcast is Hardware is Forever
Bert’s Companies – www.dexterityeng.com, Bertsinserts.com
Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop

Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".
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1h
June 01, 2026Justin Finke: Astrophysics at the Improv
#64 – Justin Finke: Astrophysics at the Improv
Justin works for Naval Research Laboratory, so this is the first podcast with a disclaimer.
“Ways and Means” and “Monumental” are beers from DC area breweries.
Used a telescope as a kid
Special relativity can be derived with high school math.
“Atom” by Isaac Asimov – not sci-fi
“A Brief History of Time” by Stephen Hawking
FYI, grad school for chemistry and physics is generally free.
Big display pendulums have motors.
Buy them from Academy Pendulum Sales
Is he an astronomer, an astrophysicist, or physicist?
How old is the universe? The Hubble tension.
Did the speed of light change?
Does gravity change?
Discussing improv classes
AI – generative, at least – not affecting astrophysics too much. Yet.
Prefers putting together a talk more than giving it.
Bert lists five great things about being an engineer.
Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop
Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com
Let Jen get rid of your pain - Improv for Pain
https://academypendulums.com/
Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".
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1h 11min
May 11, 2026Amy Barrickman: Feng Shui? No way!
#63 – Amy Barrickman: “Feng Shui? No way!”
Amy studied interior design, acting, and a little improv comedy.
Likes a beer brewed with raspberries called framboise. Amy thought it was German but the internet says it is Belgian.
Who wants a Beers with Engineers recipe exchange?
Interior designer versus interior decorator.
Feng shui is still a thing, but Amy doesn’t like it.
She was an actress before being a designer.
In pharmaceutical sales for a while. Hated it!
Engineers make choices with math; designers with heart.
She wrote her book “The Living Room Design Formula” because designers are often snobbish or rude.
“Good design is what you want and good design is what feels good to you.”
A business idea (or two) shared with the world.
The open concept layout is starting to swing back to more separation.
Design is shifting from cooler colors and white to brown.
If it looks level, it’s level. Amy and Bert agree.
Designers use more math than you might expect, even pi.
Amy’s Company: https://barrickmandesign.com/
Amy’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Living-Room-Design-Formula-Style/dp/B0DX4BK5VR or www.lrdesignformula.com www.gallerywalltips.com
Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com
Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop
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1h 4min
April 27, 2026Jeff Kildow: Engineering Menaces
#62 – Jeff Kildow: Engineering Menaces
Jeff is a retired aerospace engineer turned author.
He writes alternate history novels.
His latest is Nazi Menace. Get it at Amazon.
As a 10-year old, sent a letter to the Northrup Institute of Technology, and got a reply.
Jack Northrup handed him his diploma.
GM and Northrup started universities to train employees.
So did Arthur D Little
Eventually went to school there after being in the Air Force.
There, they didn’t teach theory, they taught knowledge.
The Aleutian Islands were invaded during WWII.
“Baa Baa Black Sheep” 1970’s TV show.
Started writing in junior high – wasn’t very good.
Gave it go again after being disappointed with a book he read.
In “Nazi Menace”, Germans develop a heavy bomber, which can bomb New York.
American soldiers have more latitude than most.
Hierarchy is necessary…until it isn’t.
There are similarities between writing and engineering.
Some writers are planners and some are pantsers – they go be the seat of their pants.
Jeff’s novel – Nazi Menace
Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com
Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop
Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".
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1h 1min
April 14, 2026Irene Chan: Planning NASA Space Flights
#61 – Irene Chan: Planning NASA Space Flights
Irene is a flight planning engineer at a NASA supplier who drinks stout.
Teachers encouraged her to try a career in math.
Fear of gangs in East LA was real.
Spent a lot of time at libraries as a child
Both Irene and Bert read the encyclopedia for fun.
“Stand and Deliver” great movie and true story
Initially she struggled with calculus and physics in college.
Partially due to involvement in student engineering organizations, which she recommends.
Her stubbornness let her persevere.
She struggled in basic classes but excelled in high level ones.
Flight planning priorities are the humans, the vehicle, and then the mission.
Weather is main reason for scrubbing a flight.
The issue is less the flight but in the event a rescue is needed.
Is an ion engine an ion motor?
Sometimes the acronym comes first and then the acronym.
She wants NASA to resume support of STEM programs.
Do astronauts train on how to go to the bathroom in space? Probably.
A brief visit from Irene’s daughter, who likes magna-tiles and marble run.
Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com
Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop
French onion soup recipe - French onion soup.pdf
Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".
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1h 2min
April 01, 2026Elliot McAllister: Butterfly net for alien microbes
#60 – Elliot McAllister: Butterfly net for alien microbes
Elliot McAllister, founder and CEO of Skyphos Technology in Blacksburg, Virginia, and winner of a Beers with Engineers T-shirt giveaway for being the 1,001st connection. We discuss hands on tinkering and cycling the Iditarod Trail. Engineering wise, we discuss materials science and microfluidics. Sorry, but you’ll have to listen to find out how aliens and butterfly nets fit in.
Likes Two-hearted IPA
He didn’t choose engineering, it chose him.
Elliot and Bert are both cyclists.
Elliot wanted to be a bike designer
Worked on an all-wheel drive bike.
Raced a bike on the Iditarod trail.
Story about 1988 Giro d’Italia, “The Day the Strong Men Cried”
Materials are always important.
Got the idea for his company Skyphos during a class in microfluidics.
Similar to electronics but typically much smaller volumes.
Why sneakers squeak.
Elliot first saw ET while wearing a red sweatshirt.
National Outdoor Leadership School in Pacific Northwest
Volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and uses the Habitat Restore
Worked a few years as a roofer.
Hiking and skiing with his 3 kids.
Analysis of warmest sleeping positions
Elliot’s company - www.skyphos.tech
Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com
Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop

Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".
...more
1h 2min
March 17, 2026Brogan Miller: Being Uncomfortable is Good
#59 – Brogan Miller: Being Uncomfortable is Good
Brogan Miller is the founder of Doula Studios where he bills himself, accurately I might add, as a doula for early stage hardware start-ups. We cover many topics, including our favorite beverage while camping and why manufacturing is more difficult than design.
Brogan is a Gaelic name
A brogue accent is mostly Irish but also in parts of Scotland
Brogan’s definition of engineer – they are innately curious and try to actually explore that curiosity by using or creating tools within their local environment.
Went to Stanford and coaches students groups there.
He is a doula for early stage hardware startups.
He is both an engineering and emotional doula.
He needs his clients to be coachable.
Part of his job is finding out what their genius is.
Running a start-up involves balancing responsibilities to your employees and your capital providers.
Sometime good enough is good enough.
Spent some valuable and productive time in Vietnam researching companies.
More than 50% of manufacturing is cultural.
“I firmly believe manufacturing is more difficult that design”
He makes himself uncomfortable – it helps him grow.
Chocolate Bailey’s Irish cream is very good.
Brogan’s company - www.doulastudios.com
Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com
Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop

Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".
...more
1h 2min

FAQs about Beers with Engineers:

How many episodes does Beers with Engineers have?

The podcast currently has 75 episodes available.