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Work/life balance is a big topic these days, and for good reason. We need balance in our lives. However, can this focus sometimes obscure the fact that sometimes we just need to put in the hours and get things done, even if it’s after 5pm? Paxson Matthews demonstrates this ethic especially well as he shares his background with us, including how he coped with and has found solutions to losing his hearing at the age of 19. He then earned an engineering degree, went on to work for a large medical device company, and eventually decided to branch out on his own as a freelancer. 

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment such as cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us on the web at https://teampipeline.us 

If your company helps engineers build better products, we should talk.

At PDX, companies don’t just exhibit — they teach practical training at their booth. Engineers gain useful skills, and exhibitors build real relationships.

PDX 2026 is October 20–21 in Phoenix. Booths are first-come, first-served, and many are already reserved.

To learn more about exhibiting, email [email protected]

Subscribe to the show to get notified so you don't miss new episodes every Friday.

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment like cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us at www.teampipeline.us

Watch the show on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@TeamPipelineus

Send a text

Darin has been an application engineer supporting SolidWorks users since 1997, and as a result has a plethora of experience and practical tips for using the software. He is also a prolific content creator who has found innovative ways of not only showcasing the value of the software, but how it can be implemented in users personal lives, as well. After his company was acquired by GoEngineer in 2019 he has also developed a deep appreciation for the ways in which GoEngineer has cultivated a work environment that is, in Darin’s words, “the most fun I’ve ever had in this ‘job’ ”. 

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment such as cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us on the web at https://teampipeline.us

If your company helps engineers build better products, we should talk.

At PDX, companies don’t just exhibit — they teach practical training at their booth. Engineers gain useful skills, and exhibitors build real relationships.

PDX 2026 is October 20–21 in Phoenix. Booths are first-come, first-served, and many are already reserved.

To learn more about exhibiting, email [email protected]

Subscribe to the show to get notified so you don't miss new episodes every Friday.

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment like cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us at www.teampipeline.us

Watch the show on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@TeamPipelineus

Send a text

Mike has over 30 years of experience working as an engineer and in technical fields. He has held roles from technician to engineer to CEO and brings a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to share with us on the show. Among the insights he shares in this episode are how to build a successful engineering team, why attitude counts as much as anything else in product development, and the differences between a financially successful product vs a “human” successful product. Learn more about Mike and how he can help your team on his website: https://mlreoconsulting.com/

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment such as cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us on the web at https://teampipeline.us

Subscribe to the show to get notified so you don't miss new episodes every Friday.

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment like cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us at www.teampipeline.us

Watch the show on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@TeamPipelineus

Send a text

Callye Keen helps physical product companies grow through strategy, design, and manufacturing in his company, RedBlueCollective (https://www.redbluecollective.com/). Golden nugget #1: Train your eye to see opportunity by starting something. Golden nugget #2: To be the best engineer, work at a machine shop or a manufacturing company for at least a summer. 

Two books for technical people to read: 

“Story Brand” by Donald Miller

“Expert Secrets” by Russell Brunson

Cally’s podcast, “End Hype”: https://www.redbluecollective.com/blog/

Interviewed by Rafael Testai.

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment such as cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us on the web at https://teampipeline.us

If your company helps engineers build better products, we should talk.

At PDX, companies don’t just exhibit — they teach practical training at their booth. Engineers gain useful skills, and exhibitors build real relationships.

PDX 2026 is October 20–21 in Phoenix. Booths are first-come, first-served, and many are already reserved.

To learn more about exhibiting, email [email protected]

Subscribe to the show to get notified so you don't miss new episodes every Friday.

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment like cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us at www.teampipeline.us

Watch the show on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@TeamPipelineus

Send a text

Barbara earned a degree in chemical engineering then learned she found manufacturing and design more interesting than chemicals. Beginning her career supervising a manufacturing team, she quickly learned the importance of humility when working with others, and developed a love for helping those on her team. She continues to develop professionals as she leads her team at Irwin & Associates. Join us in this episode as we hear how she found her dream job, then eventually bought the company, and how she continues to develop her team’s skills supporting medical device product companies while offering an incredible work life balance. 

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment such as cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us on the web at www.testfixturedesign.com and www.designtheproduct.com 

If your company helps engineers build better products, we should talk.

At PDX, companies don’t just exhibit — they teach practical training at their booth. Engineers gain useful skills, and exhibitors build real relationships.

PDX 2026 is October 20–21 in Phoenix. Booths are first-come, first-served, and many are already reserved.

To learn more about exhibiting, email [email protected]

Subscribe to the show to get notified so you don't miss new episodes every Friday.

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment like cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us at www.teampipeline.us

Watch the show on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@TeamPipelineus

Send a text

Elizabeth shares her unique perspective having worked at a “theory X” company prior to her 10+ years at Gore, and contrasts those experiences with the “theory Y” environment that has been intentionally developed at Gore. Learn about how the enterprise’s principles of supporting and building individuals has led to it success, and how these principles and processes can be implemented in other progressive companies looking for ways to improve their culture and performance.

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment such as cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us on the web at www.testfixturedesign.com and www.designtheproduct.com 

If your company helps engineers build better products, we should talk.

At PDX, companies don’t just exhibit — they teach practical training at their booth. Engineers gain useful skills, and exhibitors build real relationships.

PDX 2026 is October 20–21 in Phoenix. Booths are first-come, first-served, and many are already reserved.

To learn more about exhibiting, email [email protected]

Subscribe to the show to get notified so you don't miss new episodes every Friday.

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment like cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us at www.teampipeline.us

Watch the show on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@TeamPipelineus

Send a text

Matt shares his deep and valuable experience with us from testing pharmaceutical compounds and understanding the mechanics of the universe on an atomic level through implementing truly practical quality systems that help teams work more productively without weighing them down in paperwork and bureaucracy. Learn more about his work by visiting PSN’s website.

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment such as cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us on the web at https://teampipeline.us

Subscribe to the show to get notified so you don't miss new episodes every Friday.

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment like cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us at www.teampipeline.us

Watch the show on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@TeamPipelineus

Send a text

Like many great engineers, Blayne Roeder (pronounced like “raider”) grew up on a farm with a strong work ethic and in a culture that valued the ability to maintain (and sometimes build) your own equipment. Those skills helped Blayne quickly advance through a senior level engineering role and into multiple engineering director roles. Having provided guidance to hundreds of junior level engineers throughout his career, Blayne shares with us not only the skills that make great engineers, but skills that make great people. 

[email protected]

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment such as cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us on the web at https://teampipeline.us

Subscribe to the show to get notified so you don't miss new episodes every Friday.

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment like cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us at www.teampipeline.us

Watch the show on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@TeamPipelineus

Send a text

Ryan Frederick has spent his career building software product companies and during this episode shares just a few insights he has learned over the years. Directly applicable to both software and hardware companies, listeners will find his instruction a valuable asset in their bag of development tools. Ryan has also written two books, one about starting a new company (The Founder’s Manual) and the other about managing a services company (Sell Naked). 

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment such as cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us on the web at www.testfixturedesign.com and www.designtheproduct.com 

If your company helps engineers build better products, we should talk.

At PDX, companies don’t just exhibit — they teach practical training at their booth. Engineers gain useful skills, and exhibitors build real relationships.

PDX 2026 is October 20–21 in Phoenix. Booths are first-come, first-served, and many are already reserved.

To learn more about exhibiting, email [email protected]

Subscribe to the show to get notified so you don't miss new episodes every Friday.

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment like cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us at www.teampipeline.us

Watch the show on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@TeamPipelineus

Send a text

Alexander Slocum is a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT and is one of the authorities in the realm of mechanical design. He has written two books on machine design, Precision Machine Design and FUNdaMENTALs of Design (free download on http://pergatory.mit.edu), published more than 150 papers, and has 130+ issued patents. Alex regularly works with companies on the development of new products and has been significantly involved with the invention and development of 11 products that have been awarded R&D 100 awards. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and was the assistant director for advanced manufacturing in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the White House in 2013.   

 In this episode we discuss how to tinker, proactivity hacks, achieving work life balance, how to monetize your mechanical design ideas, managing mechanical design engineers and designers. 

Interviewed by Rafael Testai: https://www.linkedin.com/in/testai/

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment such as cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us on the web at www.testfixturedesign.com and www.designtheproduct.com 

If your company helps engineers build better products, we should talk.

At PDX, companies don’t just exhibit — they teach practical training at their booth. Engineers gain useful skills, and exhibitors build real relationships.

PDX 2026 is October 20–21 in Phoenix. Booths are first-come, first-served, and many are already reserved.

To learn more about exhibiting, email [email protected]

Subscribe to the show to get notified so you don't miss new episodes every Friday.

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment like cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us at www.teampipeline.us

Watch the show on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@TeamPipelineus