Communication Mechanics: A Podcast for Engineers

On this episode of Communication Mechanics, Jill Fennell talks with Georgia Tech alumnus Mykala D.D. Sinclair about the importance of taking notes as an engineer and the impact the practice has had on their growth and career.

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Show Notes and Timestamps

• 00:43 Intro to topic and guest.
• 02:13 Why engineers need to take notes seriously.
• 03:47 What makes professional notes different?
• 05:04 What separates useful documentation from writing down everything?
• 06:00 What information matters most when reviewing notes.
• 06:59 Situations during which new engineers take too few notes.
• 08:08 Distinguishing between a discussion with colleagues and something that needs to be part of the record.
• 09:29 Traceability and how documentation can support it.
• 11:19 Notes as team infrastructure and how they can change when they support an entire team.
• 12:44 What happens when critical project information exists only in one person’s memory.
• 14:55 How teams decide where notes should live and who’s responsible for maintaining them.
• 16:35 Notes as a thinking tool and how writing things down changes how you think about a problem.
• 18:53 Using notes to track open questions and notebook use.
• 20:26 Recommended habits for students to build for taking notes on paper.
• 22:06 Relegating notes to certain parts of the process versus taking them in an ongoing process.
• 23:10 Personal statements and student growth in professional contexts.
• 24:56 Using notes to prepare for job interviews and performance reviews.
• 26:44 How to take notes without creating more work.
• 28:34 Advice regarding routines and methods of notetaking.
• 32:27 Starting small for notetaking and recommendations - recording lessons learned and accomplishments.
• 33:58 Professional boundaries and things that shouldn’t be written down.
• 35:00 One notetaking mistake you see early career professionals making.
• 36:20 How has writing notes changed your understanding of your career.

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Episode edited by Lee Hibbard. 

Why do some engineers walk into every meeting prepared while others scramble to remember what was decided last week? In this episode of Communication Mechanics, we look at note-taking as a core engineering skill, not a chore. We cover what's worth writing down in meetings and project notes, how to tell everyday discussion apart from decisions that belong on the record, and how good notes keep the reasoning behind a design and help teams get through handoffs. We also talk about where notes should live and who maintains them, how writing helps with reflection and career growth (including how journaling helped Michaela make sense of her own career path), practical habits for students and early-career engineers, and how to keep the habit going without creating more work. We finish with a simple framework you can start using right away, what shouldn't be written down, common mistakes, and how good notes help you feel confident when you're put on the spot.

In the first Episode of Season 5, Jill Fennell sits down with Georgia Tech alum Lawson Sumner to discuss the importance of defining complex engineering problems and navigating different audience needs and expectations in requirements engineering.

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Show Notes and Timestamps

• 00:44 Introduction to episode and guest
• 01:42 Guest background
• 03:38 Defining a complex engineering problem
• 07:00 Starting to design before understanding complex problems
• 11:02 Customer engagement and learning about problems beyond technical data
• 12:32 Examples of important information engineers can miss without customer consulting
• 14:27 Purpose of client and community engagement
• 16:45 Who gets overlooked in defining requirements
• 19:18 Awareness of power differences when working with customers
• 21:04 Importance of Listening Beyond Stated Requests and How customers explain needs
• 23:06 What can engineers learn that may influence design when they listen to people’s stories about using those products
• 25:02 Questions to ask to draw out more data or information from customers
• 25:50  Advice on what engineers can do to tell if they’ve understood the need accurately
• 26:52 Systems Engineering and the difference between business requirements and engineering requirements
• 30:58 Different requirement sources and bringing them together
• 32:41 Responsibility engineers have to consider ethical quandaries in requirements
• 34:35 Requirements and Iteration
• 36:57 Documenting iteration and changes and standard documentation
• 38:10 Advice for Beginning Engineers and Changing Requirements
• 39:15 Advice for first years to synthesize human needs and technical information
• 39:52 How listening to stakeholders has changed your work
• 40:49 Final thoughts and wrap-up

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Podcast Edited by Lee Hibbard

In a very special season finale, Dr. Jill Fennell sits down with episode co-host Dr. Mihir Pathak to speak with five Georgia Tech Woodruff School Alumni who were selected to be part of the 2025 class of 40 under 40 honorees. Join Kevin Cone, Dr. Joe Harms, Dr. Robert Herbert, Dr. Akanksha Menon, and Shay Natarajan as they share their insights, career successes, challenges, and advice for current students and new engineers.

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Show Notes and Timestamps:

• 01:00 Introduction to Episode and Co-Host
• 03:01 Introducing 40 Under 40 Honorees
• 05:42 Why honorees think they were selected for the award
• 10:26 Honorees who went into academia and why they chose academia
• 13:35 Connection between studying engineering and pursuing sports
• 15:32 Balancing engineering and full time sports
• 17:45 Insight into investment in companies
• 25:07 Major obstacles honorees faced and how they overcame them
• 35:06 Advice for current students and early career engineers
• 42:42 Final advice, support and resources, and thanks 

Resources for Georgia Tech Students in Need:

• Center for Mental Health Care and Resources
• Stamps Health Services

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For more information about this episode's guests, please see links and details below:

Mihir Pathak
Current title and organization: cofounder at antitech

Shay Natarajan
Current title and organization: Partner, Alliance

Kevin Cone
Current title and organization: Assistant AD | Student-Athlete Development, Georgia Tech Athletics Association

Akanksha Menon
Current title and organization: Assistant Professor, Georgia Tech

 Robert Herbert
Current title/org: Assistant Professor, Louisiana State University

Joseph Harms
Current title/org: Assistant Professor, Washington University School of Medicine

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A transcript of this episode is available here. 

Episode edited by Lee Hibbard. 

In this episode, Dr. Jill Fennell sits down with Mike Tinskey, Professor of the Practice in Mechanical Engineering and Interim Associate Chair for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Georgia Tech, to talk about best practices for communication across power differences in different engineering contexts. 

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Show Notes and Timestamps

• 01:01 Intro to Topic and Guest
• 02:55 Defining Power Differences
• 07:53 Advice for new engineers regarding risk and consequences
• 09:56 The importance of Audience and Communicating Up in the workplace
• 13:46 Communicating to direct supervisors and asking questions without signaling incompetence
• 16:17 Communicating to Executives and how to present information effectively
• 19:45 Communicating upwards and clear signaling of informing versus requesting decisions
• 22:49 Students interacting with sponsors and advice for Capstone students
• 25:14 Lateral communications within power structures
• 28:56 Communicating with machinists and technicians and other specialised roles
• 30:50 Advice for how new engineers can demonstrate respect for experiential knowledge while also communicating their design goals
• 33:05 Advice for students as they navigate power differences for the first time
• 34:53 Importance of listening and receiving communication and the importance of engagement
• 39:20 Final advice for communicating across hierarchies

A transcript of this episode is available here. 

Episode Edited by Lee Hibbard.

In this episode, Dr. Jill Fennell sits down with Dr. Brandon Dixon, Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies at the Woodruff School and Director of the Laboratory of Lymphatic Biology and Bioengineering at Georgia Tech. The two discuss how undergraduate engineers can get involved with lab work and how best to solicit lab directors for opportunities in different labs. 

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Show Notes and Timestamps:

• 01:01 Introduction to Topic and Guest
• 02:05 Value of lab involvement as an undergraduate
• 04:20 Advice for students interested in labwork and available labs
• 07:06 How does student communication shape their perception by lab faculty?
• 11:49 What qualities are lab directors looking for in potential students for labs?
• 14:03 Which ways of communicating are preferred by faculty?
• 16:10 How to demonstrate being a good fit for the lab and crafting identity in communication
• 19:05 Demonstrating readiness and fit without over or underselling yourself
• 21:16 How can students show preparation if they don’t have any research yet?
• 23:30 What kind of language signals understanding of research vs. wanting a lab job?
• 25:33 What are common questions asked during the meeting stage?
• 27:37 Good questions from students during the meeting
• 31:28 Good practices for following up after email exchange
• 33:41 Reasonable window for a next steps follow up email
• 36:37 How best to communicate a change in plans without burning bridges
• 38:08 One takeaway piece of advice for students interested in lab research; outro

A list of undergraduate research opportunities is shared here.

Take a look at an example email solicitation here. 

A transcript of this episode is available here. 

Episode Edited by Lee Hibbard. 

In this episode, Dr. Jill Fennell sits down with Georgia Tech alum Foster Finley to challenge the myth that technical communication is objective by examining how engineers make strategic, audience-driven choices in real work. 

Take a look at Foster's book list here.

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Show Notes and Timestamps:

• 01:00 Introduction to topic and guest
• 02:18 Why reading is fundamental for engineers
• 03:33 Why all communication is rhetorical
• 08:13 Importance of audience understanding
• 10:35 Project failure and communication
• 14:04 Audience as codesigner versus audience as recipient of facts
• 17:42 Rhetorically skilled engineers in the workplace
• 22:01 What employers are looking for in technical positions
• 24:24 Risk of engineers making assumptions
• 26:14 How students can handle interpreting data and audience influence
• 28:50 Role of persuasion in an engineer’s job
• 31:26 How can students practice these principles in everyday communication
• 34:03 Advice for students preparing for cross functional roles and internships
• 37:43 Engineering as building and as advocacy
• 40:33 One nontechnical book you would assign engineers to read
• 42:14 Wrap up and importance of rhetorical consideration, reading

A Transcript of this episode is available here. 

Episode edited by Lee Hibbard. 

In the season 4 premiere, Dr. Jill Fennell sits down with returning guest Dr. Amit S. Jariwala and new guest and fellow instructor Marty Jacobson to discuss the conventions of Design Communication. The episode covers how early-career engineers make communication decisions as they move from "student writing" into professional practice, design teams, and real constraints. 

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Show Notes and Timestamps:

• 01:00 Welcome and Introductions to Guests - Amit Jariwala and Marty Jacobson
• 01:36 Communication Design Processes: Creating Specifications
• 03:27 What defines a strong input or specification
• 06:27 Role of the spec sheet in early design decisions and how you discuss them
• 09:02 Common misunderstandings students have about requirements
• 12:10 examples of good or bad Specs
• 15:47 Ensuring Measurable Specifications
• 20:05 How do students talk about design processes to different stakeholders?
• 20:57 How do students build trust that their designs are feasible and reliable?
• 22:27 Undercutting utility through qualitative language
• 25:55 Specific Qualitative Phrases
• 29:46 advice for students resisting to commit to numbers early in the process
• 33:43 Advice for students trying to balance flexibility and actionability
• 38:06 Wrapping up and last points of advice

A transcript of this episode is available here.

Episode edited by Lee Hibbard.

In the season 3 finale, Dr. Jill Fennell sits down with returning guest Dr. David MacNair and new guest Dr. Caitlin Kelly. The three discuss the importance of 'training the trainer' and ensuring graduate TAs and communication center tutors have the tools they need to give feedback to the students they work with. 

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Show Notes and Timestamps:

• 00:43 Introduction to guests
• 01:00 Introduction to conversation about training writing reviewers
• 01:57 How to train the trainer and give constructive feedback
• 03:14 Distinction between grading and feedback
• 09:17 How to approach talking to GTAs and Tutors about what they need to know to give feedback on a report or project
• 15:54 Helping GTAs and Tutors to understand the importance of audience when helping others with their communication
• 21:54 Difference between client/user focused writing and instructor focused writing
• 26:48 How to explain how GTAs and Tutors should make clear what major problems are vs other major issues in writing
• 37:01 Advice for peer reviewers
• 44:02 Advice for new GTAs and Tutors before they meet with their first students
• 47:18 What should GTAs tell students when they’re encouraging them to come to the communication center?
• 51:04 Wrap up and thanks

A transcript of this episode is available here.

Episode edited by Lee Hibbard.

In this episode, Dr. Jill Fennell sits down with recent Georgia Tech graduate Keshav Pransukhka to learn more about his experience as an engineering intern and discuss advice for students going into internships for the first time. 

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Show Notes and Timestamps

• 00:43 welcome and introduction
• 01:15 internship information
• 04:17 First communication expectations and challenges
• 06:23 Value of communication training in college
• 07:41 Communicating with different audiences
• 10:05 Strategies for dealing with different audiences
• 12:47 Amount of communication during internship
• 14:07 Slide Design Strategies
• 17:07 Advice for students when designing slide decks
• 20:41 Building confidence during internship work
• 23:36 Advice for students who have yet to have an internship
• 26:04 Success of communication practice
• 28:38 Advice to students starting their internships
• 30:45 What students should understand before their internship

A transcript of this episode is available here.

Episode edited by Lee Hibbard.