Ever wonder what your mechanical engineer really thinks about your last-minute design changes?

In this candid and surprisingly fun episode of Check Set, host Brian Swem sits down with Nate Van Heukelum, a mechanical engineer at Millies Engineering, to get real about the daily chaos of building design—from duct sizing drama to documentation nightmares, and what it's really like working across disciplines in today’s architecture world.

Together they dig into:

• Why architects keep forgetting about building performance (and why it matters)
• How collaboration has shifted from “pass the baton” to “just invite me to the meeting”
• The biggest communication breakdowns between engineers and architects
• What it’s like juggling 20+ projects while your notes live across OneNote, email, Teams, and maybe a dream
• Why AI tools like Redmark could finally give engineers and designers time back (and sanity)

Bonus: Nate shares his favorite project horror stories, the soft skills no one talks about, and what advice he’d give to engineers just starting out.

🎯 This is the episode architects didn’t know they needed—and engineers will feel deeply seen.