Philip and I particularly enjoy getting to catch up with alums doing great things, and we’d been trying to get Daniel Scott Mitchell on the show for a while.  Between stints at Form Labs, Tesla, Rivian, and now launching his own startup, Daniel’s career trajectory is inspirational.  He chatted with us to share some words of wisdom on perseverance, hard work, creativity, and making things happen.  Looking for more from him? Check out his podcast The Next Byte at https://www.thenextbyte.com/, his startup Takton.com, or connect with him by email at [email protected].

In this episode, we feature Rachel Yoho from the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning. She invited Philip and I to be on her podcast, Keystone Concepts in Teaching, and in the process we were fascinated to learn more about her engineering background and how she uses the skills she developed as an engineer in her day-to-day as Assistant Director of the Stearns Center, helping faculty improve their teaching and classroom effectiveness.

In this episode I caught up with Brooke Mayer from Marquette. Water is essential for our survival. Prof. Mayer is doing high impact research on water quality and working closely with industry to make sure that research finds its way into improving access to safe, clean water. In this conversation we chat a bit about her research and also about the importance of communicating science research effectively. (For any listener interested in the book I mention in this chat, the full title is Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Joseph Aoun.)

Phil and I recently had the opportunity to chat with Edwin Wallis from Maritime Academy Charter School in Philadelphia.  In this episode he shares some tricks of the trade for recruiting and coaching a rookie SeaGlide underwater robotics team. (Spoiler alert: they did really well!) Listen on to learn about the bright, future naval engineering workforce.  

Capstone Day 2025 was held in conjunction with the Department of Mechanical Engineering's 10th Anniversary Celebration on May 5th. As icing on the cake, the festivities took place in George Mason's brand new Life Sciences and Engineering Building, which is home to numerous instructional laboratories that provide our students hands-on learning experiences. Listening to this episode will give you a glimpse into the day; more information on our capstone design program can be found at: ⁠https://mechanical.gmu.edu/hands/senior-design-capstone⁠.

In this episode, Phil and I chat with Zach Lenkay from Ulliman Schutte Construction to learn about construction of water treatment facilities.  You’ve probably seen news coverage of water supplies gone wrong; in this episode we’re shining a light on water treatment done right.  Zach shares with us his excitement for enabling access to sustainable clean water and the future opportunities for students pursuing careers in this industry. 

It’s always a great day when we can spotlight a former student on the podcast.  For today’s episode we are joined by alum Mohammad Khogiani, who seems to be loving his time at MTSI. To make it all the more special, he brought with him Senior Principal Engineer Nick Francis. Collectively we had a lively conversation about the past, present, and future of the aerospace industry, from the F-15 to autonomous aircraft and artificial intelligence to hypersonics. 

I am so honored to chat in this episode with Farrell Davis, a scientist, engineer, entrepreneur, and fisherman. Listen on to learn a bit about his background and what's led him to his position as a Fisheries Technologist at Coonamessett Farm Foundation, as well as the work he's doing to improve commercial fishing safety and ergonomics funded by the Northeast Center's Ideas That Work incubator.

On the day of Mason’s career fair, Phil and I caught up with a favorite alum Dhiambi Otete as she was back on campus recruiting for the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division.  In our chat we covered everything from job hunting, to life after D1 sports, to how to make the perfect pizza (hint: no pineapple).  Listen in for this exceptional role model’s words of wisdom.

Philip Wilkerson and I had the opportunity to chat with CAPT Brad Baker, USN (Ret.) about his Navy career, his transition to the private sector at Energetics Technology Center, and building the naval engineering workforce during his service at the United States Naval Academy. Did he train additive manufacturing's Rickover? Listen in to find out!

If you’re interested in learning more, the article CAPT Baker mentions is linked here.