A 24-hour mountain bike race, a 380-mile bikepacking “failure,” and a custom whiskey blend might sound like unrelated stories, but they all point to the same theme: how we learn, how we collaborate, and how we get better without wasting effort. I’m joined by Dr. Eric Jankowski, director of the Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering at Boise State University, for a wide-ranging conversation that stays grounded in real moments, real trade-offs, and real joy.

We talk about the Smoke and Fire race and what self-supported rules teach you about resourcefulness, planning, and humility. From there we get into craft and community: coffee as a precise ritual, whiskey blending as a long-running tradition with friends, and why care for process is often a sign of care for people. Eric also shares how Boise became home after Michigan and Denver, and what stood out to him about Boise State’s student-focused culture and its access to the outdoors and to industry.

Then we dig into the core research: energy efficiency, computational efficiency, and materials science that aims to power society without harming the planet. Eric explains how his lab uses high-performance computing, why wasted “bit flipping” makes him mad, and how smarter workflows can dramatically cut costs. We also explore Boise State’s NSF-funded AWESOME Center (Advancing Workforce Experience in Semiconductors Through Outreach and Mentoring Excellence), semiconductor workforce development in Idaho, and how emerging technologies like ferroelectric memory and neuromorphic computing could reduce the energy and cost of AI and data centers.

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