The Engineering Commons Podcast

This episode discusses similarities between engineers and accountants, and provides a brief overview of accounting terminology. Like most engineers, Brian has gone through the process of assigning his engineering costs to a seemingly endless list of expense accounts. Accounting is an important function in virtually every business. Today’s episode considers some of the similarities between … Continue reading Episode 34 — Accounting for Engineers →

We consider engineering education from a European perspective in this episode of The Engineering Commons. Our guest for this episode is Sebastian Ahlström, a civil engineer who is pursuing a masters degree at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. Sebastian spent the past year working as an intern for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, … Continue reading Episode 33 — Civil in Sweden →

In this episode, we discuss working with those from other technical disciplines, and also touch upon the software skills that engineers should possess. Our guest for this episode is Paul Davis, a software engineer who currently writes jet engine control code. Although there is some dispute about the quotation’s origin, EdsgerDijkstra is frequently credited with … Continue reading Episode 32 — Fitting In →

We discuss how crowdfunding might influence the future of scientific research in this episode of The Engineering Commons. Adam is willing to fork over a few dollars to further scientific studies of the universe; how about you? Crowdfunding is a means for raising money that has recently been garnering a lot of attention. Websites that … Continue reading Episode 31 — Crowdfunding →

In this episode we discuss some lessons that our guest, aeronautical engineer Clay Coons, has learned while traveling abroad. Our guest is Clay Coons, an aeronautical engineer who currently works as an applications engineer for Cummins, Inc. Clay attributes a portion of his interest in aeronautical engineering to the 1960’s TV show, My Three Sons. … Continue reading Episode 30 — Travel →

We discuss how engineers use and develop their intuitive senses. “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”
 — Albert Einstein We are looking for individuals willing to appear as guests on this podcast, … Continue reading Episode 29 — Intuition →

We discuss how to stay sane while dealing with the day-to-day stresses of being an engineer. Besides whatever form of music happens to pass through his headset, Carmen enjoys listening to numerous podcasts, including: Nerdist, with Chris Hardwick, and Roderick on the Line, with Merlin Mann and John Roderick. You can read about Carmen’s latest … Continue reading Episode 28 — Sanity →

In this episode, Adam, Carmen and Jeff talk about engineering skills, and where they are obtained. Adam has used “soft” skills more than “hard” skills thus far in his engineering career. On the other hand, Carmen makes heavy use, at least on occasion, of the “hard” skills he learned in his engineering education. Adam notes … Continue reading Episode 27 — Skills →

Brian and Jeff talk with Ann McMahon about sharing one’s passion for engineering with pre-college students. Brian has experienced the glassy-eyed look of others listening to his engineering stories. Our guest for this episode is Ann McMahon, an aerospace engineer who advises educators on how best to share science and engineering with K-12 students. Ann … Continue reading Episode 26 — Elementary Engineering →

Jeff talks with his three new co-hosts about what sparked their interests in engineering. Co-host #1 is Adam, a civil engineer who works for a Department of Transportation in the Upper Midwest. Co-host #2 is Brian, an electrical engineer who has spent a good deal of his career doing hardware design for the aerospace industry. … Continue reading Episode 25 — Spark →

Chris and Jeff discuss leadership issues with Jim Stroup, author and management consultant, in this episode of The Engineering Commons podcast. Jeff and Chris didn’t receive much leadership training in their engineering classes. Jeff picked up his knowledge on the job, while Chris benefited from some training in high school, and a program offered by … Continue reading Episode 24 — Leadership →

Chris and Jeff discuss priorities and burnout, and we learn a thing or two about Chris’ future plans. Chris isn’t sure what he’ll be doing in a month, but says it probably won’t include hosting The Engineering Commons podcast. (A collective gasp rises up from the audience!!) Jeff quizzes Chris for a bit about his … Continue reading Episode 23 — Priorities →

Chris and Jeff discuss why engineers are sometimes seen as cold, heartless bastards who refuse to be team players. Oh yeah, and how that might be linked to a lack of empathy. A recent journal article claims that engineering students have less empathy than students in other fields of study. Chato Rasoal, Henrik Denielsson & … Continue reading Episode 22 — Empathy →

This episode covers a few of the various ways in which time influences the work of engineers. Chris has been busy refactoring electronic schematics; Jeff is preparing for a mechatronics course he will be teaching. Despite our perceptions of time being quite variable, we often talk about work we need to do, or the distances … Continue reading Episode 21 — Time →

Chris and Jeff review the episodes of 2012, and share some of the background stories that didn’t make it to the original podcasts. Chris enjoys the lack of interruptions that the holiday season brings to his workplace. From Episode 1, “Jumping Off,” Chris took away the notion that engineering is messy. Jeff harped once again … Continue reading Episode 20 — A Year in Review →