In this episode of Behind the Power we speak with Zamiyad Dar, Senior Director of Energy Storage at Pivot Energy.

Zamiyad shares his path from power systems engineering in Pakistan to a PhD in the US, then into roles at GE, New York ISO, Entergy, and finally Pivot Energy. He explains how early work integrating a large scale flywheel energy storage system shaped his confidence, and why taking risks and learning through failure became central to his approach.

The conversation covers how grids are changing under rising demand from data centres, why market and interconnection processes need to catch up, and how storage fits into the system. Zamiyad also outlines the reality gap between planning models and the equipment available in the market, plus the challenge of hiring experienced storage talent.

The Techne Connect Podcast 🎧

Thank you for listening to Techne Connect! This podcast takes you inside the companies and conversations shaping the future of engineering.

From space and defence to robotics, AI, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and next-generation mobility, each episode features the founders, engineers and technology leaders building tomorrow's world.

Through candid discussions on innovation, leadership, product development and career journeys, the podcast uncovers the ideas, challenges and breakthroughs driving the world's fastest-moving industries. Whether you're an engineer, founder, investor or simply fascinated by emerging technology.

Techne Connect offers a front-row seat to the people creating what's next.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we speak with Andrew Rush, co-founder and CEO of Star Catcher, about building the world’s first energy grid in space.

Andrew shares his path from physics into patent law, then into space entrepreneurship, including his experience scaling Made In Space. He explains why customers buy capability, not technology, and how Star Catcher breaks an infrastructure scale vision into practical execution milestones.

The conversation explores why launch cost reductions are only part of the story, how mission cost becomes the next barrier, and how space to space power beaming could extend satellite life, increase available power, and support new commercial use cases. Andrew also discusses the realities of startup life, lessons carried forward from prior ventures, and the culture Star Catcher is building as it prepares for its first on orbit demonstrations.

This episode offers a clear view of space infrastructure, commercial adoption, and what it takes to move fast in a hardware led company.

The Techne Connect Podcast 🎧

Thank you for listening to Techne Connect! This podcast takes you inside the companies and conversations shaping the future of engineering.

From space and defence to robotics, AI, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and next-generation mobility, each episode features the founders, engineers and technology leaders building tomorrow's world.

Through candid discussions on innovation, leadership, product development and career journeys, the podcast uncovers the ideas, challenges and breakthroughs driving the world's fastest-moving industries. Whether you're an engineer, founder, investor or simply fascinated by emerging technology.

Techne Connect offers a front-row seat to the people creating what's next.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we spoke with Andrew Chang from Rsquared about investing in national resilience and what it means in practice.

Andrew shares his route from Army counterintelligence into startups, cybersecurity, and building an incubator that helped founders work with government, before joining R Squared. He explains why the firm avoids being labelled a pure defence fund, and how their thesis spans infrastructure, manufacturing, biotech, cyber, and supply chain resilience across the US and Western Europe.

The conversation covers how “infrastructure” now includes IoT security, why critical minerals are moving up the venture agenda, and where counter drone and underwater autonomy sit in both defence and commercial markets. Andrew also breaks down the biggest hurdle for defence focused founders, learning procurement and contracting systems, and why Europe faces extra complexity across fragmented rules.

The Techne Connect Podcast 🎧

Thank you for listening to Techne Connect! This podcast takes you inside the companies and conversations shaping the future of engineering.

From space and defence to robotics, AI, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and next-generation mobility, each episode features the founders, engineers and technology leaders building tomorrow's world.

Through candid discussions on innovation, leadership, product development and career journeys, the podcast uncovers the ideas, challenges and breakthroughs driving the world's fastest-moving industries. Whether you're an engineer, founder, investor or simply fascinated by emerging technology.

Techne Connect offers a front-row seat to the people creating what's next.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recorded onsite at Soda Auto’s SDV Hub, this episode takes you inside the thinking behind software defined vehicles.

You hear from Sergey Malygin, Founder and CEO, as he shares his journey from building Arrival’s software platform to founding Soda. He explains the mission to simplify automotive software development, reduce cost and time, and unify requirements, architecture, testing, and deployment in one workflow.

The conversation covers modular reuse, hardware-agnostic software, automation across the V-model, and why Soda sees software defined vehicles as the foundation for automotive and other industrial sectors.

The Techne Connect Podcast 🎧

Thank you for listening to Techne Connect! This podcast takes you inside the companies and conversations shaping the future of engineering.

From space and defence to robotics, AI, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and next-generation mobility, each episode features the founders, engineers and technology leaders building tomorrow's world.

Through candid discussions on innovation, leadership, product development and career journeys, the podcast uncovers the ideas, challenges and breakthroughs driving the world's fastest-moving industries. Whether you're an engineer, founder, investor or simply fascinated by emerging technology.

Techne Connect offers a front-row seat to the people creating what's next.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we speak with Erik Daehler, Senior Vice President of Sierra Space’s Defense organisation, focused on delivering national security satellite capabilities including missile warning and tracking.

Erik shares how a hands-on childhood, from rebuilding cars to fixing pinball machines, shaped his engineering mindset, and how early work in remote sensing at NASA took on new urgency after 9/11. He explains his shift into defence missions, the lessons learned from programme cancellations, and why adaptability matters as much as technical depth.

The conversation covers Sierra Space’s approach to responsible operations in orbit, including solutions for de-orbiting and servicing satellites, plus the shift from bespoke spacecraft to faster, more industrialised space manufacturing. Erik also outlines the skill sets Sierra Space needs most, from manufacturing and supply chain to systems thinking, creativity, and AI-ready engineering.

The Techne Connect Podcast 🎧

Thank you for listening to Techne Connect! This podcast takes you inside the companies and conversations shaping the future of engineering.

From space and defence to robotics, AI, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and next-generation mobility, each episode features the founders, engineers and technology leaders building tomorrow's world.

Through candid discussions on innovation, leadership, product development and career journeys, the podcast uncovers the ideas, challenges and breakthroughs driving the world's fastest-moving industries. Whether you're an engineer, founder, investor or simply fascinated by emerging technology.

Techne Connect offers a front-row seat to the people creating what's next.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we speak with Nico Perrin, founder of PERRINN 424 and a veteran of Formula One, Le Mans, and Formula E. Nico explains his ambition to close the performance gap between electric motorsport and Formula One by developing a digital first, fully electric race car designed to challenge the Nürburgring Nordschleife lap record.

He shares his journey from race engineer and designer in Formula One to electric racing, and how those experiences shaped the PERRINN 424 project. Nico discusses the decision to build the team as an open source, community driven network, allowing contributors from across the world to take part in real time car development through simulation and digital twins.

The conversation covers electric powertrain design, battery constraints, simulation led engineering, and the role of open networks in reducing cost and accelerating innovation. Nico also outlines his long term vision for hydrogen electric racing and why he believes electric motorsport will define the future of high performance racing.

The Techne Connect Podcast 🎧

Thank you for listening to Techne Connect! This podcast takes you inside the companies and conversations shaping the future of engineering.

From space and defence to robotics, AI, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and next-generation mobility, each episode features the founders, engineers and technology leaders building tomorrow's world.

Through candid discussions on innovation, leadership, product development and career journeys, the podcast uncovers the ideas, challenges and breakthroughs driving the world's fastest-moving industries. Whether you're an engineer, founder, investor or simply fascinated by emerging technology.

Techne Connect offers a front-row seat to the people creating what's next.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Behind The Robot, Adam Ewing speaks with Tyler Bouchard, CEO and co-founder of Flexxbotics. Tyler explains how modern manufacturing is shifting toward software defined automation and why orchestration, interoperability, and autonomy sit at the centre of scalable robotics adoption.

He shares his journey from mechanical engineering and industrial automation into building Flexxbotics, and how early experience across manufacturing, robotics components, and commercial roles shaped the company’s vision. Tyler discusses the challenge of connecting robots, machines, and business systems, and why clean, contextualised data is critical for reliable AI deployment in high compliance environments.

The conversation explores manufacturing labour gaps, the role of robotics in reshoring and reindustrialisation, and the skills engineers need to succeed at production scale.

This episode offers practical insight into robotics software, manufacturing autonomy, and building systems that work reliably in the real world.

The Techne Connect Podcast 🎧

Thank you for listening to Techne Connect! This podcast takes you inside the companies and conversations shaping the future of engineering.

From space and defence to robotics, AI, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and next-generation mobility, each episode features the founders, engineers and technology leaders building tomorrow's world.

Through candid discussions on innovation, leadership, product development and career journeys, the podcast uncovers the ideas, challenges and breakthroughs driving the world's fastest-moving industries. Whether you're an engineer, founder, investor or simply fascinated by emerging technology.

Techne Connect offers a front-row seat to the people creating what's next.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Behind the Robot, we speak with Laurence Allen, CEO of Terranova.

Laurence explains how Terranova builds autonomous terraforming robots to lift land out of flood zones, preserving cities and infrastructure in place. He shares lessons from SpaceX, scaling deep tech hardware, and why robotics must focus on real world problems like flooding and climate resilience.

This episode explores robotics with impact, autonomy at scale, and building technology for long term human challenges.

The Techne Connect Podcast 🎧

Thank you for listening to Techne Connect! This podcast takes you inside the companies and conversations shaping the future of engineering.

From space and defence to robotics, AI, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and next-generation mobility, each episode features the founders, engineers and technology leaders building tomorrow's world.

Through candid discussions on innovation, leadership, product development and career journeys, the podcast uncovers the ideas, challenges and breakthroughs driving the world's fastest-moving industries. Whether you're an engineer, founder, investor or simply fascinated by emerging technology.

Techne Connect offers a front-row seat to the people creating what's next.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recorded onsite at the Williams Technology Campus, this episode takes you inside Williams Grand Prix Technologies, where Formula One engineering culture is being applied to real-world industrial challenges.

You hear from Selin Tur, Managing Director and CTO, as she shares her journey from F1 engineering to executive leadership. She explains the mission behind the business, the focus on digital engineering, predictive maintenance, and battery technology, and how Formula One speed, accountability, and systems thinking shape the way the team operates.

The Techne Connect Podcast 🎧

Thank you for listening to Techne Connect! This podcast takes you inside the companies and conversations shaping the future of engineering.

From space and defence to robotics, AI, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and next-generation mobility, each episode features the founders, engineers and technology leaders building tomorrow's world.

Through candid discussions on innovation, leadership, product development and career journeys, the podcast uncovers the ideas, challenges and breakthroughs driving the world's fastest-moving industries. Whether you're an engineer, founder, investor or simply fascinated by emerging technology.

Techne Connect offers a front-row seat to the people creating what's next.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Behind The Orbit, we speak with Lucy Edge, a Space Industry Executive with experience across UK Defence, ESA, Surrey Satellite Technology, Avanti Communications, and the UK space innovation ecosystem.

Lucy shares her journey from elite sport into astrophysics and spacecraft engineering, then into senior leadership roles spanning corporates, scale ups, and startups. She discusses how teams scale, why communication matters more as organisations grow, and the differences between working in large institutions and fast moving companies.

The conversation also covers the future of space, including in orbit manufacturing, recycling, sustainability, and debris management. Lucy closes with reflections on women in space, the gender pay gap, and a high risk launch decision that shaped her leadership approach.

The Techne Connect Podcast 🎧

Thank you for listening to Techne Connect! This podcast takes you inside the companies and conversations shaping the future of engineering.

From space and defence to robotics, AI, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and next-generation mobility, each episode features the founders, engineers and technology leaders building tomorrow's world.

Through candid discussions on innovation, leadership, product development and career journeys, the podcast uncovers the ideas, challenges and breakthroughs driving the world's fastest-moving industries. Whether you're an engineer, founder, investor or simply fascinated by emerging technology.

Techne Connect offers a front-row seat to the people creating what's next.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.