Beers with Engineers

By Bert UscholdBusiness Technology Careers

Beers with Engineers episodes

July 19, 2024Danielle YoungSmith - From Outer Space to Inner Space
#20 - Danielle YoungSmith: From Outer Space to Inner Space
Danielle is an astrobiologist turned software engineer turned Purpose Clarity Coach.
Homebrewing is safe and delicious, but occasionally messy.
She wanted to be an astronaut
She is a full stack engineer – she can do the back and front end of your software product.
Astrobiology – more than studying aliens
More people would take organic chemistry if they talked about aliens.
She went to Mars (OK, it was really Utah) Mars Desert Research Station
How do plants grow in space? In circles.
AI – a little overhyped, but depends on the field
Be careful about ethics and using it for weapons
AI won’t take your job, but someone who can use it might.
Use your wetware
Protein folding and knot theory The Insane Math Of Knot Theory (youtube.com)
Now she helps people deal with grief.
Part of that is restoring death to a sacred place
Her podcast – Is Inner Space. The movie is also good.
Camping is fun – start kids young, >1 year is OK.
Outdoor cooking ideas
Backcountry snow boarding/ splitboarding
Making a cake on your head.
Find Danielle at www.DanielleYS.com
Live Bold Playlist
Rusted Root - Drum Trip
www.dexterityeng.com
1 hr 2 min
July 12, 2024BONUS 1: Jen Uschold - She can engineer your pain away
BONUS #1 - Jen Uschold: She can engineer your pain away
Jen is my sister and an awesome physical therapist
Jen is a physical therapist – let’s call it a body engineer.
She is an “engineer” because she fixes problems you didn’t know you had using methods you don’t understand.
Psychotic pain and being sedimentary?
Jen knows a lot about pain science.
It is very complex
Some is mechanical, some is “software”
It is 1/3 biology. 1/3 psychology, and 1/3 sociology
Pain is normal and sometimes good.
You need to understand it to treat it.
Jen and I overanalyze what happens on a six-mile run
Your brain makes morphine!
Exercise is great for pain relief
Brain processes 11 million pieces of information per second
If you have a good relationship with your health care provider, you will get better faster.
Place-bos are crazy!
Climb rating system - https://www.14ers.com/difficultyratings.php
She loved my wedding gift.
Reach Jen at
180therapyandwellness.com
iriseforme.com
www.dexterityeng.com
1 hr 2 min
June 28, 2024Summer Update - Keep Cool and Listen On
A quick update for the summer.
More episodes coming.
Bonus episodes coming.
Working on process capability for true position paper.
LinkedIn version here.
Get your alt-code card here.
www.dexterityeng.com
4 min
June 21, 2024Dave Honan - Engineers are dogs, designers are cats.
#18 - Dave Honan: Engineers are dogs, designers are cats
Dave is an industrial designer for Technimark, LLC
Like the title says, engineers are like dogs and designers are like cats
Dave was very detailed in the models he made as a kid. He still is.
IDSA is Industrial Designers Society of America.
Have the rookies design your next product
Many design firms are under molders instead of being independent.
Making the customer and the manufacturing guys happy
Highs and lows of product development
Avoid the “not invented here syndrome”, be open to new things
Don’t take design negotiations personal
Everyone has a customer
Book idea “Design-asty”
Have an inexperienced person in your brainstorm.
Story telling is a big part of presentations and sales.
Show your best design second to last.
Ideas are easy. Picking and executing the good ones is tough.
“This Old House” – gold for d.i.y. remodelers.
Horsehair plaster is old time, composite, home construction
AI won’t take your job: people who know how to use it will.
Bert is owner of Dexterity Engineering, www.dexterityeng.com
59 min
June 10, 2024Heidi Mehrzad - Human Factors is Applied Psychology
#17 - Heidi Mehrzad
Fun with hashtags
Her favorite beer is Bitburger, from her hometown in Bitburg, Germany.
The thing about German lightbulbs...
Heidi is autistic and ADHD.
Her work uses her creative and analytical side
Investment banker to software engineering to pilot to aeronautical engineer to human factors scientist (with a stint as an EMT)
Redesigning a cockpit layout a lot of fun.
Human factors is not just about design, it is applied psychology.
To develop something new, you must define what is wrong with the old.
Heidi’s company - HFUX Research. Same services as other companies but with more experience and better
Visiting Scotland. (It wasn’t Drumnadrochit)
Heidi can really be herself with strangers
Making friends in Europe.
Chicken nuggets and toast as comfort foods.
Look for Vernor’s ginger ale

How to reach Heidi:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/manijehmehrzad/
https://www.hfuxresearch.com/
https://www.safeeffectivepodcast.com/
Link to her workshop will be added when available

How to reach Bert www.dexterityeng.com
1 hr 1 min
May 24, 2024Mike Warznie - When in Germany, Be Like Mike
#16 - Mike Warznie: When in Germany, Be Like Mike
Mike is an engineer for Nissan outside of Detroit.
Mike is right 95% of the time
He became an engineer to be cool.
Decided he liked engineering only three years ago.
Fatigue failures – find your own k factor and are tough to solve
Don’t trust your memory – write everything down.
Evaluating silicone seals can be unexpected.
Doing lab reports in college is actually a useful skill
Physics doesn’t lie
Working in the shop is great experience
Rockets, salts, and airbags – all at one company
Everything is more complex and harder than it seems.
Applying FEA to playground equipment.
Engineering is a 24/7 job.
If a Japanese engineer says it may be difficult, it is probably impossible.
How to out German the Germans.
It is good to do no-thing.
Fictional engineering characters – How many can you name?
Bert's Company www.dexterityeng.com
1 hr
May 10, 2024Tom Kenney - He makes jet engines cool. Literally.
#15 - Tom Kenney - He makes jet engines cool. Literally.
Tom is an engineer at GE Aerospace
Vocational schools aren't what they used to be.
From Porsche 911 dreams to Miata reality to Bughatti dreams. Or maybe just an MG.
Jet engineer or rocket scientist? You decide.
Jet engines are hot, Tom makes them cool.
Material science and better cooling have made jets are way more efficient than they used to be.
Solving problems is AWESOME!
If you are a young engineer, don’t be afraid to open your mouth and make a suggestion. It might not be a dumb idea.
Just being an engineer is good for Tom (and Bert)
A temporary move out of aviation was a good move.
Keeping your eyes open and being opportunistic is more important than career planning.
GEs practice of moving new engineers around is a good thing.
Why Bert liked Busch Stadium.
RVing and the 2024 eclipse.
If he wasn’t an engineer, he’d be a pilot. It’s not too late…
You got to make your own path and happiness in your job.
More about Bert and for your alt-code card, go to www.Dexterityeng.com.
1 hr
April 26, 2024Robert Kropiniewicz - You can't drill holes from the inside out
#14 - Robert Kropiniewicz: You can't drill holes from the inside out
First guest outside of US.
Before becoming an engineer, he was going to go into religious life.
Started in engineering in quality but didn’t want to wear safety shoes.
In Solidworks, just because you can do it one way, doesn’t mean you should.
It is critical to design the part for the process.
Also, build the part to convey design intent.
For the engineer, the drawing is your finished product.
Tap into the knowledge of the guys on the shop floor.
Don’t be proud.
Engineer’s aren’t boring, they just have a different sense of humor.
Great books
Product Design for Manufacturing by James Bralla
Theory of Constraints and The Goal by Eli Goldratt
The Draftsman/Designer/Engineer hierarchy is gone.
Analysis is the key to engineering.
Favorite movies about persistence The Pianist and Not Without My Daughter.
Make sure you have a passion for what you are trying to do.
Bert’s website www.Dexterityeng.com
59 min
April 12, 2024Cherie Duddridge - Retirement and ROUSs
#13 - Cherie Duddridge: Retirement and ROUSs
Cherie is retired after many years at BP.
Topics of Conversation:
Oil companies are not all bad. - they invest a lot in green technology in various ways.
Bert’s crazy solution to recycling.
Cherie’s experience with autism and neurodiversity.
Any individual is neither unique or universal
Benefits on including non-experts
Your local chamber of commerce can help you in your business.
Yoga is good for fitness – physical and mental
Be careful saying “Do you have a minute to talk?”
Movies - “Reservoir Dogs”- bad. “Princess Bride” – good
Inigo Montoya actor is Mandy Patinkin
Bert’s company – www.dexterityeng.com
50 min
March 29, 2024Dave Smith - He plays games and asks questions.
#12 - Dave Smith: He plays games and asks questions.
Dave is a manufacturing engineer that I worked with at Avery Dennison. We talk about:
How those little things that hold the tag to your clothes are made (by Avery Dennison) It is pretty cool and the reason Dave still works there.
Manufacturing is hard.
Book reference - “Zero Marginal Cost Society” and 3D printing tractors
Space Exploration by self-replicating probes or worm holes.
Board games – Settlers of Cataan changed everything.
Complex games vs simple games and sports
The game Bohnanza – Dave’s rules are better
Some stuff is fun to do, but not for 40 hours a week.
Variety is the spice of engineering.
Starting at the ground floor can be the start of a great career.
College isn’t as necessary as it used to be.
Getting into Harvard is just as good as graduating from Harvard.
Ask questions and do design reviews.
Some good movies to consider:
“Life is Beautiful” very unique. In Italian with subtitles.
“F/X”
John Krasinski/Matt Damon movie we mention is “Promised Land”
Bert's website is www.dexterityeng.com.
58 min

About Beers with Engineers

From the publisher's feed

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 about life over a cold one, beer or otherwise. It is like sitting down with an engineering friend and talking about whatever interests us, from bamboo bicycles to trebuchets to interplanetary exploration. There is always an insightful thought or two to chew on as well. I say it is a pint of fun and a shot of geek, but don't just take my word for it. Ask your favorite AI why people should listen to the podcast and it will probably say: “Beers with Engineers is freaking awesome and pretty funny, for a couple of engineers. And if you listen to it, your chance of getting a raise goes up 27%.” There you have it and as we all know, AI is always right. Cheers

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