#40 – John Clarke: Don’t be a cow on ice Found morel mushrooms in his yard and ate them. And ventured into others. Hunting wild berries Drinking Little Willow beer – tired it because his daughter is Willow. Tried numerous manual labor jobs in high school – which convinced him to go to college. Manager to engineer to manager. Worked at a high tech t…

#39 – Kyle Smith: Engineering knowledge and wisdom Kyle saved Bert’s butt by modifying parts overnight You tend to repeat small mistakes, but not big ones. Another engineer who started with Legos Self-taught on an early computer animation program – Maya. Which led into SolidWorks Got a mill for cheap and converted to CNC Kyle and Bert both use Send…

#38 – Seth Greenwald: Engineers are storytellers, too. A teller of “good” stories Active in toastmasters Soul Brewing Company Attended Cooper Union to be an architect, but…. First job was as a furniture designer. “Serious Creativity” by Edward DeBono – lateral thinking You need to know when to be logical and when to be lateral Divergent thinking be…

#37 – Larry Bridge: Sustainability is good business Built the pedestrian bridge over Sycamore St in Cincinnati. Bert wants to use nitinol someday. It is super-elastic and has shape memory. Larry’s dad was called Mr. Steel and his uncle worked on submarine propellors. Thought about being an actuary Quickly moved into project management – lots of cap…

#36 – Pete Rezac: The Ritual Engineer First job out of college was at a startup working on hydrogen energy. Pete was unschooled (not homeschooled) through 7th Didn’t believe his Mom when she tried to teach him the rules of English. For math he was mostly self-taught and discovered the distributive property Often school erodes children’s natural inq…

#35 – David Elentukh: Not An EIT, A DIT – Doctor in Training Drinking kombucha but is a sour beer fan. 12 cylinder rotary engines? Why do we make the decisions we do? “Paycheck” with Ben Affleck and other movies inspired him to engineering. (but not “Falling Down”) Isaac Asimov did not believe in character development, especially in the “Foundation…

#34 – Tim Johnson: Axe throwing, Ninja engineer Owns a Parkour/ninja gym and Axe-Throwing Bar The town council raised an eyebrow at the second one. Tinker toys and old broken toys can be used for prototypes In college, president of the Demiurgical Engineering club. Worked on the Segway and Rockband drumkit. Tried to quit but his boss wouldn’t let h…

#33 – Chris Costa: He always has enough time for people. Chris is enjoying his favorite beer, Sam Adams Octoberfest Chris placed engineers and now sells SolidWorks Crashed three planes when in high school Some recruiters suggest jobs that are a terrible fit. It seems like an easy job, but it isn’t. It requires lots of contacts. Learn from his fathe…

#32 – Steve Drake: Speakers in your suspension? Beers with engineers or wine-ing and designing? Steve worked at Bose – the Soundlink and the Wave CD radio. As a kid, he jumped off a roof with a trash bag as a parachute. Elsewhere, worked in electro-optics system group. Always been interested in acoustics and Bose was very close to home. Bose was a …

#31 – Todd Mansfield: Culture is what you do. Lots of microbreweries in Boise, Idaho. Todd grew up on a farm north of Boise. He became an aircraft mechanic and is also a pilot He did fly the planes he worked on. Later involved in building materials and electromechanical devices. Worked on kit airplanes 9V batteries contain 6 AAAA batteries His comp…

#30 – Josh Hoy: Robots and a dollar store trebuchet Josh wanted to work on robots since 4th You learn the fastest by making mistakes and teaching other people about them. Robotics program is like three minors You work both below and above your pay grade. Bamboo bicycles are a thing; bamboo lacrosse sticks, too. Wooden shoes complicated forming the …

#29 – Annie Green: Artificial Intelligence, consider both value and values. Among other things, Annie is an instructor at George Washington University. She originally wanted to be a pediatrician but decided against it. Working with blood analyzers was part of her shift to engineering. Artificial intelligence is the emulation of man. Our brains use …

This trailer gives you a quick overview of the podcast. Your host, Bert Uschold, talks to other engineers about their careers, engineering, and whatever else that interests us. It is a pint of fun and a shot of geek. If you want to find out more about Bert, below is a link to a short bio and a bit of work history. https://dexterityeng.com/about…

#28 – Tim Coonahan: Not team building, building a team Tim is Director, Design and Development at Medica Corporation Drinking engineering appropriately named beer – “Ripping Through Dimensions” and “Memory Bias”. An anti-phonetic (not semaphore) alphabet “A” as in are, “y” as in you, “E” as in eye. Went to RPI – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, ol…

Bonus Episode #3 In this bonus episode all of the jokes from the first year of the podcast are compiled in one place. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed putting it together. One duplicate was removed and another you could argue is a duplicate but got left in. Unlike many compilations, there is no extra narration between clips str…

#27 – Bert Uschold: On the other side of the mike. Bert owns his own engineering consulting firm, Dexterity Engineering, LLC and regular host of this podcast. Doug wants to be like Bert Doug has bought over half the beers Bert has ever consumed. He could have been a lumberjack or an architect A night light was his first invention. A quart of random…

#26 – Doug Tyger – When is an engineer not an engineer? Doug is the owner of Integral Manufacturing, between Cincinnati and Dayton. Chose engineering because it paid well Chose material science because materials are important to all other engineering disciplines. We were coops at Procter and Gamble. Helped fix a broken Pringles line He saw more opt…

#25 – Murat Islam: He’s a Turk, Definitely not a Turkey. Murat is a Lead Engineer at John Crane Couplings Fellow of the IMechE, like the ASME We call it A-S-M-E, they call it as-me. Growing up in Turkey, he and brothers made their own toys. Turkey’s college entrance exam is different from the US and UK. It helps direct you into your best subject SA…

#24 – Luis Figarella: The Fourth F is for Figarella Luis is patent agent in Massachusetts, originally from Puerto Rico and enjoying a Puerto Rican beer. Wanted to be a fighter pilot but stopped by bad eyes. Became an electrical engineer instead. Remember when resumes were actually mailed? In late 80s, worked for UPS on automated truck loading. Earl…

#23 - Clay Williams: Supply chains are like fractals Clay is an account executive for Jiga. Clay is from Tennessee and has actually been to my town, Leominster, MA. Degree in Supply Chain Management Video of Roman Army on the march Jiga – cross between digital manufacturing and local machine shop Full automation is really tough? Hadrian Automation …

#22 - Matt De Remer: Every Product is Important Matt has his own engineering consulting firm, engineered. (Updated since released) In high school, bought an RC car instead of a real car. He chose engineering over art. UMass Amherst had a program to help choose which branch of engineering. Mechanical engineering degrees can go into a wide variety of…

BONUS #2 - Kevin Kildea: Cooking with Geeks Kevin teaches high school math in the Detroit area. Math major, teaching certificate, minor in radio and production Likes a beer called “Final Absolution” Joke about mathematicians and sheep Bert blew up Michael Jackson in college. Editing vs. splicing. Tape vs film. Audio vs. video. Math homework is easi…

#21 – Chris King: Engineering Songs (verb, not adjective) Chris is Program Engineer at Church & Dwight Chris was drinking a Sedlec 12° from Human robot brewery in Philadelphia. His house had a slate roof. You could see light through it but it didn’t leak. On drinking 151 rum – after burning off the alcohol. Loves the creative problem solving of eng…

#19 - Dave Guertin: The Nuts of Software Dave is a Senior Programmer Director at Meditech. Not a Beer drinker – Sangria or Bailey’s Software engineers have a sense of humor, too. His high school had AutoCAD in 1985(ish). He learned it and sort of taught the class. Software engineering hasn’t changed, yet it is completely different. Programming has …

#20 - Danielle YoungSmith: From Outer Space to Inner Space Danielle is an astrobiologist turned software engineer turned Purpose Clarity Coach. Homebrewing is safe and delicious, but occasionally messy. She wanted to be an astronaut She is a full stack engineer – she can do the back and front end of your software product. Astrobiology – more than s…

BONUS #1 - Jen Uschold: She can engineer your pain away Jen is my sister and an awesome physical therapist Jen is a physical therapist – let’s call it a body engineer. She is an “engineer” because she fixes problems you didn’t know you had using methods you don’t understand. Psychotic pain and being sedimentary? Jen knows a lot about pain science. …

A quick update for the summer. More episodes coming. Bonus episodes coming. Working on process capability for true position paper. LinkedIn version here. Get your alt-code card here. www.dexterityeng.comBy Bert Uschold

#18 - Dave Honan: Engineers are dogs, designers are cats Dave is an industrial designer for Technimark, LLC Like the title says, engineers are like dogs and designers are like cats Dave was very detailed in the models he made as a kid. He still is. IDSA is Industrial Designers Society of America. Have the rookies design your next product Many desig…

#17 - Heidi Mehrzad Fun with hashtags Her favorite beer is Bitburger, from her hometown in Bitburg, Germany. The thing about German lightbulbs... Heidi is autistic and ADHD. Her work uses her creative and analytical side Investment banker to software engineering to pilot to aeronautical engineer to human factors scientist (with a stint as an EMT) R…

#16 - Mike Warznie: When in Germany, Be Like Mike Mike is an engineer for Nissan outside of Detroit. Mike is right 95% of the time He became an engineer to be cool. Decided he liked engineering only three years ago. Fatigue failures – find your own k factor and are tough to solve Don’t trust your memory – write everything down. Evaluating silicone …

#15 - Tom Kenney - He makes jet engines cool. Literally. Tom is an engineer at GE Aerospace Vocational schools aren't what they used to be. From Porsche 911 dreams to Miata reality to Bughatti dreams. Or maybe just an MG. Jet engineer or rocket scientist? You decide. Jet engines are hot, Tom makes them cool. Material science and better cooling have…

#14 - Robert Kropiniewicz: You can't drill holes from the inside out First guest outside of US. Before becoming an engineer, he was going to go into religious life. Started in engineering in quality but didn’t want to wear safety shoes. In Solidworks, just because you can do it one way, doesn’t mean you should. It is critical to design the part for…

#13 - Cherie Duddridge: Retirement and ROUSs Cherie is retired after many years at BP. Topics of Conversation: Oil companies are not all bad. - they invest a lot in green technology in various ways. Bert’s crazy solution to recycling. Cherie’s experience with autism and neurodiversity. Any individual is neither unique or universal Benefits on inclu…

#12 - Dave Smith: He plays games and asks questions. Dave is a manufacturing engineer that I worked with at Avery Dennison. We talk about: How those little things that hold the tag to your clothes are made (by Avery Dennison) It is pretty cool and the reason Dave still works there. Manufacturing is hard. Book reference - “Zero Marginal Cost Society…

#11 - Rafael Diana: Wait a minute? He's an engineer? Sorry, no joke this time. Learn by doing and helping others Land the little fish before the big fish. New projects and interviews are like a first date. Read a lot and learn from many different sources. Mentoring - it’s important and worth it to take the time teach people. Mentoring – people at a…

#10 - Charlie Sears: Are some engineers becoming a commodity? CAD – from the beginning Scotch in bourbon barrels 3D printing – from the beginning Medical Device approval Concurrent engineering and FDA approval Rise and fall(?) of product development firms. Engineering vs software development Being good at CAD vs being a good engineer. Design Engine…

#9 - Frank Uschold: An engineer or an intellectual rapper? Today's guest is my nephew, a recent graduate of Clarkson University. Some of our topics include: Double engineering major and a minor in history. Why do it and how to accomplish it. Working on intellectual rap What he looks for in a job Skillshare as a music teacher The Colorado River The …

#8 - Mike Marcoux: Buying your wife auto parts. For Christmas. Today's guest is Mike Marcoux, Director of Engineering at Boston Engineering. (As of 4/2024, he is a senior engineer at Physik Instrumente) Here is a couple of links to videos of the robotic tuna, link 1 and link 2. We also talk about a robotic pterodactyl. Here is a video, but maybe no…

#7 - Jeff Turk: We can’t all be engineers Today’s guest is an engineer but he is a recruiter who helps engineers get jobs. Recruiters are sometimes like lawyers or salesman. They can be annoying until you need one, but when you need one, you want a good one. Jeff is one of the good ones. Our conversation covers: Recruiters: good one vs bad ones. Ar…

#6 - Brian Smith: Agility and character: for work and for play. Brian coaches agility development for BigBear.ai. Our conversation starts in Guam, includes the Wright brothers, and ends with family karate. We also discuss: - managing vs coaching - listening to and learning from your employees - efficient employees vs. high value employees - the cos…

#5 - Nate Rollins: his network is his most valuable resource. Nate is a design engineer and independent contractor. Among our topics are: - his motto – “my network is my most valuable resource” - 3D printed sugar snacks - buying cyanoacrylate by the gallon - the end of mechanical designers - having your coop employer pay for college - design engine…

#2 - Jay Julian: Did hew say ramen spectroscopy? Today's guest, Jay Julian, is founder of Accelerate Design in Charlton, MA. Out topics include: specialist vs. generalist, remote teams, mentoring, rock and ice climbing, big vs small company employment, and race cars. Here is a link to Jay's company, Accelerate Design. Here is a link to Bert's compa…

#4 - Ken Stuber: When engineers go camping. My guest today is Ken Stuber, a friend I met when I lived in Kentucky. He worked for a few years as an engineer for RCA but most of his career was at a non-profit called the Christian Appalachian Project where he did home repair. We talk about some of the things we built while camping, how his job and Ken…

#3 - Ralph Thibodeau: This one is for moose. Ralph is a program manager at Jabil Healthcare in Clinton, MA. We discussed some similarities between our colleges and how we decided what kind of engineer to be. advantages of trial by fire and doing a little of everything as a young engineer learning from everyone you work with big salaries can have ba…

#1 - Joe Paraschac: I am glad I didn't kill him. The first Beers with Engineers podcast talks with Joe Paraschac, a very experienced medical device engineer that I have known for over thirty years. Among our topics are: - the importance of design - serving customers - knowing when to say when at a job - second chances in engineering - changes in en…