Beers with Engineers

Luis Figarella - The Fourth F is for Figarella

#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.
Early in his career, he didn’t even know what a patent was.
Learned his first patent had issued because he received an offer to make a plaque of it.
Patent descriptions are like painting by numbers.
It is an important decision on what to patent.
Learned that Florida is hotter than Puerto Rico.
A little on patent agent vs. attorney.
Claim writing is an art form. And a very important one.
Strategic patent – what you want to make.
Tactical patent – similar to what you want to make.
Luis is a big Dilbert fan.
Loves teaching people what patents are.
Most clients are in the FFF round – friends, family, and fools.
Luis is a bit of a history buff.
To reach Luis – 603-557-8420, www.mxpatent.com, luis@mxpatent.com.
Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com

Clay Williams - Supply chains are like fractals

#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 – Manufacturing the future.
Seem to be following The Goal or Theory of Constraints, both by Eli Goldratt
Supply chain strategy often base on manufacturing concepts.
Supply chains are internal and external
Not “The Origin of Stuff”, but “The Story of Stuff” Annie Leonard
Supply chains are like fractals
Ford doesn’t make cars, they assemble them.
Do automaker and their suppliers have recall insurance?
“Anybody can hold a tenth.”
Clay is a people person – thrives on customer satisfaction.
Sometimes outstanding customer service doesn’t take much effort.
Are cicadas electronic transformers?
Peanut Butter and Jelly beer is popular.
Clay says “Go Vols!”
Where Clay works Jiga
Bert's company  Dexterity Engineering, LLC

Matt De Remer - Every Product is Important

#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 fields.
In college, engineers need to problem solve and then keep learning.
Small development firms – some formal training but lots of on-the-job training.
Specialization vs generalization.
Entrepreneurism is in our families.
Matt learned from his father’s example.
Virtual networking has it pros and cons.
Matt is a Solidworks Certified Professional – speed is a key aspect of the test.
Take the EIT sooner rather than later.
PE exam did not have something that fit his field.
Looks back fondly on his entire career.
Saw a firefighting tool he worked on and saw it at Smokey the Bear’s birthday party.
Worked on lung transport tool that keeps them “breathing.”
95% of the use cases are easy. The edge cases are what challenge you.
Likes gravel biking.
Solving wedding problems.
 
Reach Matt –  Matt@engineeredpd.com
Reach Bert - www.dexterityeng.com 
 

BONUS 2: Kevin Kildea - Cooking with Geeks

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 easier to grade than history or English.
“Don’t teach your students what they can look up on Google.”
Teach students how to think, how to find answers, and how to problem solve.
Fighting AI doing homework.
The student body has changed – they already know so much.
Be a teacher, not a teller. Don’t solve the problem for them.
MIT sent him a letter thanking him for being an influence on a student’s life.
The greatest roofing story.
Bribing Kevin with chicken wings.
Kevin and Bert make desserts for the potluck, we don’t buy them.
Kevin makes awesome French onion soup. Bert makes great wings – and shares a secret.
Working together for a common goal applies throughout life
www.dexterityeng.com 
 

Chris King - Engineering Songs (verb, not adjective)

#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 engineering.
3D printers are great to have but it is tough to make money on them.
Re-built an MG Midget. Restoration vs re-build.
Enjoyed creating a product lifecycle management system and the training part of the rollout.
Microphones and guitars as security blankets.
Writing and releasing his own music. Go to http://www.Anybodysking.com
Engineers and musicians are remarkably a like – both have areas of creativity and areas of constraint.
His music writing process.
Both of us have remodeled our kitchens.
Senior engineers should do more mentoring.
Carl Sagan and Cosmos made Chris want to be an astronomer.
Mechanical Engineering has a bright future.
 
Bert’s Stuff
Critical Dimensions article
Plastic Design Tips
dexterityeng.com

Dave Guertin - The Nuts of Software

#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 been commoditized –
But it depends how you define it.
Does everyone need to know how to code?
No but, they all need to learn to use a computer.
Both mechanical engineers and software engineers use many off the shelf items when designing news things.
Dave creates those of the shelf things
Dates are surprisingly complicated
Software engineers get a lot of instant gratification. Mechanical engineers don’t
Software quality control is testing the software in a plethora of situations.
It’s similar to environmental changes for physical products

Danielle YoungSmith - From Outer Space to Inner Space

#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 studying aliens
More people would take organic chemistry if they talked about aliens.
She went to Mars (OK, it was really Utah) Mars Desert Research Station
How do plants grow in space? In circles.
AI – a little overhyped, but depends on the field
Be careful about ethics and using it for weapons
AI won’t take your job, but someone who can use it might.
Use your wetware
Protein folding and knot theory The Insane Math Of Knot Theory (youtube.com)
Now she helps people deal with grief.
Part of that is restoring death to a sacred place
Her podcast – Is Inner Space. The movie is also good.
Camping is fun – start kids young, >1 year is OK.
Outdoor cooking ideas
Backcountry snow boarding/ splitboarding
Making a cake on your head.
Find Danielle at www.DanielleYS.com
Live Bold Playlist
Rusted Root - Drum Trip
www.dexterityeng.com 

BONUS 1: Jen Uschold - She can engineer your pain away

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.
It is very complex
Some is mechanical, some is “software”
It is 1/3 biology. 1/3 psychology, and 1/3 sociology
Pain is normal and sometimes good.
You need to understand it to treat it.
Jen and I overanalyze what happens on a six-mile run
Your brain makes morphine!
Exercise is great for pain relief
Brain processes 11 million pieces of information per second
If you have a good relationship with your health care provider, you will get better faster.
Place-bos are crazy!
Climb rating system - https://www.14ers.com/difficultyratings.php
She loved my wedding gift.
Reach Jen at
180therapyandwellness.com
iriseforme.com
www.dexterityeng.com

Summer Update - Keep Cool and Listen On

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.com 

Dave Honan - Engineers are dogs, designers are cats.

#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 design firms are under molders instead of being independent.
Making the customer and the manufacturing guys happy
Highs and lows of product development
Avoid the “not invented here syndrome”, be open to new things
Don’t take design negotiations personal
Everyone has a customer
Book idea “Design-asty”
Have an inexperienced person in your brainstorm.
Story telling is a big part of presentations and sales.
Show your best design second to last.
Ideas are easy. Picking and executing the good ones is tough.
“This Old House” – gold for d.i.y. remodelers.
Horsehair plaster is old time, composite, home construction
AI won’t take your job: people who know how to use it will.
Bert is owner of Dexterity Engineering, www.dexterityeng.com