How Do You Engineer?

This week we have a conversation using the Internet...and having conversations over the Internet!

This week we're back to the past with an episode on indoor plumbing, from supply to disposal. We discuss potable water (po-table? pot-able?), old west water towers and methane dirigibles. Pete explains why sinks in Europe have separate hot and cold water taps, and we design a poorly-thought out and awkward communal toilet. At least we're not in an outhouse.

Looking back on the last 40-odd weeks there have been some moments of hilarity which, for obvious reasons, didn't make it into the final episodes. So come with us on a journey into the podcasting studio and see what happens before the final cut.

A year ago we were here. Or at least some of us were. For our fiftieth episode we reflect on the past year of podcasting. We discuss our podcast formats, how our audio has improved, and our new release schedule. We also look to the future and tell you about some of our new episode ideas, from a series on the exciting world of protocols to a What Were They Thinking style of product discussion. And as we stated in our first podcast, we're always open to your feedback.

After all of the years of late nights and longs days that it takes to spin up an education and career in engineering, how do you leave it all behind and completely change your path? Now imagine that everyone around you is telling you that it's a mistake. That was the question that Manjula Selvarajah was asking herself years ago when she decided to leave behind a successful career in engineering and marketing to become a journalist.

“How do tech companies continue to innovate” seems like a pretty ambitious topic to cover in a half-hour without Abbey, and looking back it probably was. Simon and Pete tried their best to discuss the current state of tech innovation, and how companies choose strategies to stay relevant and innovative.

This week we're calling in sick. We'll be back next week and in the meantime, here's a little "When HDYE Goes Wrong" preview.

With the hot new Samsung Note 7 all over the news, we wanted to take a moment to acknowledge all of the incredible technology that is all around us...not on fire.

This week we return to the past. The cold dark past. And try to warm things up with our engineering know-how. We discuss the downside of living with a garbage fire, try to avoid lead poisoning, and get distracted by centrifugal governors. Pete tells us all about the little-known properties of oregano and we succeed in making the past better than the present, at least when it comes to in-floor heating.

Trying to find a balance between work and life is often less like adding or removing weights from a scale, but more akin to trying to slackline between two masts of a ship in the open ocean. Circumstances change, pivot points shift, and the only way to know if you've reached a tipping point is to think critically about how you work and what you want out of life.