Don’t panic if your career isn’t linear

Stephanie Butron, a Virginia Tech alum and current Mason student, joined me for this episode of the Mason Mechanical Engineer.  She is brilliantly combining her passions for aerospace engineering and rhetoric, to dig into how what is written following engineering disasters influences public perception.  She provides some excellent guidance for prospective and new engineers on the interface of engineering with verbal and written communication, developing a professional identity, and following your interest.  If this particularly resonated with you, she recommends the following reading list:To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design by Henry PetroskiThe Man Who Broke Capitalism by David GellesThe Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA by Diane Vaughn“Mr. Feynman Goes to Washington” by Richard FeynmanThe Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn“The Economic Theory of Agency: The Principal Problem” by Stephen Ross"Thinking Critically About Historical Failures: How Young Professionals Can Expand Their Innovation and Problem-Solving Capacities" by Stephanie Butron