Beers with Engineers

Noel LaFlamme: Hammer and Forge Metallurgist

#46 – Noel LaFlamme: Hammer and Forge Metallurgist
Beers with Engineers merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop
Always interested in how things work and making it better.
Which led to blacksmithing - by way of archery
Made arrowheads out of rebar.
Which (of course) led to a sword.
Rules of thumb for temperature of steel.
Blacksmithing is a hobby that makes a few bucks.
Specialty is chef’s knives
Good knives are tapered from spine to edge and from bast to tip.
YouTube videos on knife making are a mixed-bag.
1st job out of college was at a venture capital firm.
Left to be more involved in the actual creation.
Three most important factors for a startup – the team, the team, and the team.
Good innovation often comes from startup pivots.
“Getting around” patents
Really enjoys flyfishing – and makes his equipment
Did fly fishing make Ted Williams a great hitter or vice versa.
Craft food for the movie filming of Moonrise Kingdom was in his front yard.
Apolo Anton Ohno is often confused for … Apolo Anton Ohno.
 
Reach Noel at www.Laflammeforge.com
Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com
Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".

Dan Schreiber: Beer Flavored Ice Cream

#45 – Dan Schreiber: Beer Flavored Ice Cream
Beers with Engineers merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop
Dan is an architect in Green Bay but had always wanted to be a farmer.
Stroh’s was the local macro-brewery when Dan and Bert went to college.
They made ice cream, then and still do today.
Do corn farmers put feed corn around the perimeter of their field?
Bert and Dan rode a mechanical bull in Kentucky
Felt like an architect on his second job.
Dan thinks architects adopted CAD at about the same rate as engineers
If he was born ten years later, he probably would have gone into IT.
Early CAD was tough to use.
To call yourself an architect, you need to be licensed. Not so for engineers.
Licensing exam – 9 sections. The last one was 12 hours long.
Are “no scale” and “not to scale” different?
Antoine Davis (who?) and Pete Maravich.
Throwing Hershey bars onto the basketball court.
It is awesome going through a building you designed.
Go to Marquette, MI to see his work.
The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge, by David McCullough
Using a tree as the center column of your building.
Not a farmer today, but enjoys gardening.
You can tap butternut trees. Makes a smooth, buttery syrup.
In high school, Dan went into the engine compartment to work on the engine.
T-shirts at www.beerswithengineers.shop.
Use “podcast” for 15% off.
Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com
Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".

Caitlin Vaillancourt - How to avoid breaking chips. The edible ones.

#44 – Caitlin Vaillincourt: How to avoid braking chip. The edible ones.
Beers with Engineers merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop
Pros and cons of longer or shorter college terms
Played basketball in college and traveled abroad
Part of global leadership development program at Avery Dennison and loved the experience.
Interned at Frito-Lay reducing potato chip breakage.
For now, she is happy with project management but misses working with customers.
The 8D quality approach is eight disciplines, not eight things that start with D. https://asq.org/quality-resources/eight-disciplines-8d
It seems easy to make a cable tie but many things can go wrong.
Bert dares sci-fi writers to write a chapter on how a self-replicating probe replicates itself.
She has her PMP – project management professional – certification.
Project managers have to influence without authority.
Started a new job just as Covid hit. Not easy
In the early Covid days, our company sent masks to our colleagues in China.
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt is well worth reading about phones and kids.
Duo Lingo – some good and some bad.
The Anxious Generation  by Jonathan Haidt  
Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com
Bert’s email - bert.uschold@outlook.com
Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".

Josh Tarbutton: Accidentally Awesome

#43 – Josh Tarbutton: Accidentally Awesome
Beers with Engineers merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop
Likes Sugar Creek Brewery in Charlotte, NC.
They have a master cicerone (you’ll have to listen to find out)
Started working at age 12.
Got GED and went to Georgia Tech.
PhD dissertation was on CNC machining software
In the Army reserve in Iraq, he was a fuel specialist who actually knew about fuel.
Bravo team name is partially from the SEAL team and partially from Italian Bravo!
You do and learn a lot at product development firms.
B-players in an A-system yields success.
Engineers are driven to do their best.
It is easy to mess up simple.
Professors need to bring in money and publish
Engineers paint the laws of the universe on the canvas of the world.
Learning engineering is like learning cooking.
College professors need some education classes.
There’s no sympathy for professors and billionaires
Being a professor is like running a startup.
Inc 500 two years in a row (maybe 3?)
Reach Josh:
Joshua@bravoteam.tech
www.bravoteam.tech
Bravo Walk Dog Collar - https://bravowalk.com/
Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com
Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".

Gretchen Gagel: Leaving the world a better place.

#42 – Gretchen Gagel: Leaving the world a better place.
Beers with Engineers merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop
Likes beer from Boulevard Brewing in Kansas City
In Australia, the living room is the lounge room.
Went to SMU and saw Eric Dickerson play.
Dad sold construction equipment and she played with Tonka trucks.
Built Baltimore Ravens Stadium and many other things.
Very little manufacturing in Australia, therefore most construction is infrastructure.
Most construction job in Australia are 6 days a week. No wonder it is tough to hire.
Some evidence shows same output in 4 days as in 5.
Get the right people in the right seats on the bus.
Culture and performance are key to team success.
The Savannah Bananas have a great culture.
Leaders need to be agile. Don’t be like Blockbuster or Kodak.
Leadership training needs to start early
Edgar Shine: Leadership is “Seeing things that need to be done differently and convincing people to do it.”
Personal Mission Statement “Leave the world a better place than I found it.”
Gretchen’s book: “Building Women Leaders: A Blueprint for Women Thriving in Construction.”
The other books we mentioned
“Apple in China” by Patrick McGee
“Good to Great” and “Built to Last” by Jim Collins
“Leadership” by James McGregor Burns
“Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey.
Gretchen’s website - https://greatnessconsulting.com/about-gretchen/
Bert’s Sister’s quilts - www.ArtQuiltsBySuzanne.com
Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com
Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".
 

Wes Schwie - Porsches, patents, problems, and pigs.

#41 – Wes Schwie: Porsches, patents, problems, and pigs.
Beers with Engineers merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop
Became an engineer to be like his brother.
Became a patent attorney because his friend’s uncle drove a nice Porsche.
He learned writing patents and claims as mostly on the job training.
First job as an inside sales engineer – wasn’t that good at it.
Firm’s name of Gallium Law was proposed by a friend.
Gallium (the element, not the law firm) has anti-bacterial properties.
Favorite accomplishment is starting Gallium Law.
Worked for Innovelis that makes mounts for various electronics gadgets.
Patents aren’t as expensive as you might think (although they can be)
Telling your friend about your product idea is not generally public disclosure.
Also working with a company called Drivent, who is working on technology for self-driving cars.
Home much credit does the person who identified the problem have vs. the person who invented the solution?
There is no cross examination in a deposition.
Different rummy card games.
Monopoly Deal is a card game version of Monopoly.
Wes can empty his mind – with the help of Yoga.
Breath by James Nestor.
Wes Schwie's Company - Gallium Law  www.GalliumLaw.com
Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com
Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".
 
 
 
 
 
 

John Clarke: Don’t be a cow on ice

#40 – John Clarke: Don’t be a cow on ice
Beers with Engineers merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop
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 textile company
A great project that was awful.
A crazy way to remove tatoos. Maybe.
Nitinol tubing in a medical device
Lack of documentation really annoys him.
Feeling like a cow on ice.
Who is your chief jailable officer?
Design validation vs design validation.
DHF vs DMR
John bakes, his wife cooks.
John plays guitar, bass, and other similar instruments
Likes the freedom of music.
John and his wife listen to music totally differently.
Bert turned John onto early Fleetwood Mac.
John’s business - Fern Hill House Gardens  On Facebook.
Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com
Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".

Kyle Smith: Engineering knowledge and wisdom

#39 – Kyle Smith: Engineering knowledge and wisdom
Beers with Engineers merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop
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 Cut Send – not sure how they make money.
Company name is Sparrow Hawk Design – small and agile.
Industrial designers need to interact with engineers.
Two excellent books
Manufacturing Processes for Design Professionals
Handbook of Product Design for Manufacturing
Can AI advise you on capabilities of manufacturing processes?
Prediction: AI will be in SolidWorks in the not to distant future.
Difference between junior and senior engineers
Executives don’t need to know all of the problems
Flies radio control airplanes and built drones
Rides motorcycles
Wants to ride from Patagonia to Alaska
Kyle’s company – www.sparrowhawkdesign.com.
Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com
Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".

Seth Greenwald: Engineers are storytellers, too.

#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 before convergent thinking
Toastmasters help you to speak and to lead
Gives workshops on storytelling
MOTH – a storytelling organization
Six words stories
The Power of Storytelling for Project Professionals or mycpe.com
Plans to hike the Appalachian Trail
Speaking in Louisville on May 13 about generative AI.
Books on Amazon
Secrets of a Creative Warrior
Answering the Call of Your Creative Warrior.
Engineers need to learn to tell stories
Seth’s website – www.creativewarriorsecrets.com
Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com

Larry Bridge: Sustainability is good business

#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 capital products
HVAC in an R&D building is huge expense
Kosher surfactants are a thing
A big problem with waste is transporting it.
Cincinnati is building an anaerobic digester, P&G is a big “supplier”
Kentucky’s water is key to horses and bourbon.
Does burning plastic count as recycling it?
Bio-char is becoming a thing.
Larry collects guitars instead of cars.
His favorites hacks are in Excel.
Engineers need to take a finance class or two.
Decided he was an engineer, not a mechanical engineer.
Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com