Beers with Engineers

Cherie Duddridge - Retirement and ROUSs

#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 including non-experts
Your local chamber of commerce can help you in your business.
Yoga is good for fitness – physical and mental
Be careful saying “Do you have a minute to talk?”
Movies  - “Reservoir Dogs”- bad. “Princess Bride” – good
Inigo Montoya actor is Mandy Patinkin
Bert’s company – www.dexterityeng.com

Dave Smith - He plays games and asks questions.

#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” and 3D printing tractors
Space Exploration by self-replicating probes or worm holes.
Board games – Settlers of Cataan changed everything.
Complex games vs simple games and sports
The game Bohnanza – Dave’s rules are better
Some stuff is fun to do, but not for 40 hours a week.
Variety is the spice of engineering.
Starting at the ground floor can be the start of a great career.
College isn’t as necessary as it used to be.
Getting into Harvard is just as good as graduating from Harvard.
Ask questions and do design reviews.
Some good movies to consider:
“Life is Beautiful” very unique. In Italian with subtitles.
“F/X”
John Krasinski/Matt Damon movie we mention is “Promised Land”
Bert's website is www.dexterityeng.com. 
 

Rafael Diana - Wait a minute? He's an engineer?

#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 all levels need it.
Loss aversion and the strange psychology of buying things from friends. 
Risk analysis and confidence.
Humility is a good thing.
Three E’s – efficiency, effectiveness, and education.
Engineers aren’t cheap – they just always optimize for low cost.
Cost control drives creativity.
The wastefulness of spend it or lose it.
Building an energy efficient house.
Bert's website - https://dexterityeng.com/

Charlie Sears - Are some engineers becoming a commodity?

#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 Engineer vs mechanical engineer.
Don’t get cute designing– you’ll regret it.
Looking done well before you are done.
Vacationing in the Caribbean
Home ice rinks
Engineer’s Toolbox is a useful website.
Sneezing at the sun.
Advice for new engineers, especially in consulting world
Be a self-starter
The Go-Getter by Peter B. Kyne

Frank Uschold - An engineer or an intellectual rapper?

#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 Great Wall of China
How to ruin eggnog
Can a chemical engineer cook?
Rick Beato is the music YouTuber I mentioned. Here is his channel. 
Bert's website - Dexterity Engineering, LLC

Mike Marcoux - Buying your wife auto parts. For Christmas.

#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 not the one we discussed. 
Mike's career advice:
If you can't find something you love, find something you like.
If you can't find something you like, find something you tolerate.
Try autocross with your wife if you want to buy her auto parts next Christmas.
Bert's company, Dexterity Engineering, LLC.

Jeff Turk - We can’t all be engineers.

#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.
Are recruiters working for the worker or the company?
Some of Bert’s interview experiences – good and bad.
Interview tips:
Be Friendly
Be confident
Don’t be subordinate
Rehearse your answers beforehand
If someone asks you for three things you are most or least proud of, it might be the last one that is the most significant for you.
How to avoid messing up an interview.
Jeff’s email is omegasearchinc@gmail.com
Bert’s website is www.dexterityeng.com.  

Brian Smith - Agility and character: for work and for play.

#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 cost (and benefit?) of standing by your principles
- decisions from long ago that affect decisions we make today
- The Goal by Eli Goldratt (two thumbs up)
- Mike's Pastries in Boston
Bert’s company is Dexterity Engineering, LLC

Nate Rollins - His network is his most valuable resource

#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 engineer vs mechanical engineer
- why his company is still just one man
- comparing ourselves to Richard Branson and Elon Musk
 
His company is Bearsfeat, Inc.
Bert’s company is Dexterity Engineering, LLC

Jay Julian - Did he say ramen spectroscopy?

#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 company, Dexterity Engineering, LLC. 
While I am getting no payment, here is a link to the brewery Jay mentioned, Treehouse. If you are in Massachusetts, you have probably heard of them. If you are not, you might consider a visit if you are in the area.