The Engineering Passion Express

Send us Fan MailThis episode is the companion episode to "The 100 year Journey from Surgeons with Reputations to Surgical Robots". It frames the value that you can takeaway for your engineering career. In this episode we discuss things such as:1. Industry differentiation and the pressures that force it2. Where values reveal themselves3. Industry recognition vs. customer recognition4. Who is rewarded under different paradigm5. The right champions matter for technological adoption6. The need for championsSupport the showThe Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering. If you are a conference organizer and are looking for an engineering or scientific speaker to inspire or educate in a keynote presentation, please reach out to me on LinkedIn. You can find my profile below. Thanks for listening,Brandon DonnellyPlease connect with me on linkedin @ linkedin.com/in/brandondonnelly

Send us Fan MailIf you're an engineer trying to figure out where you can create value, this episode shows you where to look: where values themselves are shifting.In this episode of The Engineering Passion Express, I take you on a 100-year journey from open surgery to surgical robots through three lenses: First, a sick man in 1910 traveling to New York to pick the right surgeon. Second, Dr. John Wickham, who coined 'Minimally Invasive Surgery.' And finally, Fred Moll, who founded Intuitive Surgical, who along with a team of engineers brought surgical robots to the forefront.Join me and learn how many times before an invention comes along, the values of an industry need to shift to make it the right time for the adoption of the technology to be a benefit. Support the showThe Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering. If you are a conference organizer and are looking for an engineering or scientific speaker to inspire or educate in a keynote presentation, please reach out to me on LinkedIn. You can find my profile below. Thanks for listening,Brandon DonnellyPlease connect with me on linkedin @ linkedin.com/in/brandondonnelly

Send us Fan MailThat title might lead those with certain proclivities to think incorrectly about the subject of this episode. In fact, in this narrative-style episode, we look at the invention of an entirely new category of toothbrush that happened back in the early 1990's. It may be easy to see this particular toothbrush in a store and think nothing of it, but that's overlooking the 5 year journey that it took to commercialize it. Would you risk committing 5 years of your life to delivering a toothbrush that perhaps no one would want? No?Well one man did. This story contains themes of:1. Finding the right person or people2. Solving your own problem3. Doing what matters to your customers, so that they fight for youA toothbrush may never match the grandness of the Eiffel Tower, or the prestige of getting to build the White City as described in other episodes, but this one is important because this kind of idea is illustrative of what most engineers should be looking for: a problem they have, that they can apply their skills to deliver, while at the same time needing to stretch themselves into something bigger in order to handle all of the challenges that success comes with. I like this story and I hope you will too. Thanks for listening to The Engineering Passion Express,Brandon DonnellySupport the showThe Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering. If you are a conference organizer and are looking for an engineering or scientific speaker to inspire or educate in a keynote presentation, please reach out to me on LinkedIn. You can find my profile below. Thanks for listening,Brandon DonnellyPlease connect with me on linkedin @ linkedin.com/in/brandondonnelly

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of The Engineering Passion Express, we have a relaxed chat with Dale Rice, SOLIDWORKS Electrical Applications Engineer at GoEngineer, though despite the name, we weren't having drinks at all, we just didn't have a particular journey in mind when the conversation started. Dale has been supporting engineering companies for decades and has seen a tremendous amount of engineering, and he also is a good friend of mine.This is not a narrative episode, rather it is a discussion between two old friends. You'll hear discussion about:1. SOLIDWORKS and SOLIDWORKS Electrical2. How to ensure you're not getting duped by demos3. Making sure your boss doesn't compare you to the performance of a demonstration4. Keys to implementing a software or a change in a process successfully5. Thoughts on AI, it's coming impact in SOLIDWORKS and what we think it would be good to focus on. Here are a couple links to check out:https://www.goengineer.com/webinars#on-demandhttps://www.goengineer.com/blogYou can also reach out to Dale at [email protected] if you have questions around SOLIDWORKS or SOLIDWORKS Electrical. Support the showThe Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering. If you are a conference organizer and are looking for an engineering or scientific speaker to inspire or educate in a keynote presentation, please reach out to me on LinkedIn. You can find my profile below. Thanks for listening,Brandon DonnellyPlease connect with me on linkedin @ linkedin.com/in/brandondonnelly

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of The Engineering Passion Express, we take you on a journey from being the person who knows the physics, to understanding how a system will be fabricated.This is not a narrative episode, rather it is an interview based episode with Lance Thrailkill, owner of All Metals Fabricating. Lance is a nice guy and great person to work with. You can check them out at https://www.ametals.comJoin me and learn how an engineer can increase their value by understanding design for manufacturing. Lance also left behind some valuable pieces of information. Here are his notes:Manufacturing Tips for Sheet Metalhttps://www.ametals.com/post/design-for-manufacturing-5-tips-for-sheet-metal-bendingOptimizing for Installationhttps://www.ametals.com/post/dfm-tips-to-optimize-your-part-design-for-hardware-installationChoosing the correct steelhttps://www.ametals.com/post/how-to-choose-the-right-steel-type-for-sheet-metal-fabricationConsiderations for Punched Partshttps://www.ametals.com/post/five-dfm-tips-for-punch-press-operations-in-precision-fabricationWelding Design Tipshttps://www.ametals.com/post/7-dfm-tips-for-faster-better-and-higher-quality-weldingPrecision Machininghttps://www.ametals.com/post/7-dfm-tips-for-your-next-precision-machining-projectSurface Finish Considerationshttps://www.ametals.com/post/your-guide-to-perfect-surface-finishes-how-all-metals-fabricating-matches-you-to-the-ideal-optionThanks for listening,Brandon DonnellyPlease connect with me on linkedin @ linkedin.com/in/brandondonnellySupport the showThe Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering. If you are a conference organizer and are looking for an engineering or scientific speaker to inspire or educate in a keynote presentation, please reach out to me on LinkedIn. You can find my profile below. Thanks for listening,Brandon DonnellyPlease connect with me on linkedin @ linkedin.com/in/brandondonnelly

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of The Engineering Passion Express, we take you on a journey from working on projects that have utility, or known value, to the more abstract world of art.  This story is told through the lens of Gustave Eiffel, French Engineer and bridge builder! You know his tower, but this story is an imaginative telling of how he went from someone focused on practical structures like railway bridges, to building icons, much of his inspiration stemming from a project he was selected to work on previously! It uses some historical information from the small amounts available about the personal life of Eiffel, along with a little bit of fantasy to fill in the gaps. Join me and learn how someone like Eiffel, a man of calculation and precision, could change his personality and risk it all on a gamble!If you find yourself a bit reserved in your risk-taking, but you know you want to create something great, this is an episode for you. Let's take that journey together. Climb aboard now and listen!Support the showThe Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering. If you are a conference organizer and are looking for an engineering or scientific speaker to inspire or educate in a keynote presentation, please reach out to me on LinkedIn. You can find my profile below. Thanks for listening,Brandon DonnellyPlease connect with me on linkedin @ linkedin.com/in/brandondonnelly

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of The Engineering Passion Express, we take you on a journey from having all the right technical skills to do a project, to being the person who has to manage a combination of similarly talented people for a larger scale project. This story is told through the lens of Daniel Burnham, Architect and one of the first urban planners! Daniel didn't set out to build the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, but when it was offered to him in recognition of his skill, he accepted the challenge.Join me and learn where Daniel Burnham and the fair struggled, how he overcame hurdles, many of which were personal and how the fair would impact the world in decades to follow!Show Notes and LinksIf after listening to the episode, you want to learn a bit more about the details of the fair, a great book is "The Devil in The White City" by EriK Larson. Here is a link to it - https://amzn.to/42rF8sc Note: Devil in the White City is two books in one. It's about the fair, but also about a serial killer lurking at the same time. They are separated by chapters, and I found the engineering and architecture chapters far more engaging, so if you don't like horror stories, you can skip the H.H. Holmes chapters.Send us a textThe Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering. It is my hope, that this grows into a powerful community where people share knowledge, or their passions and find happiness in their pursuits of making things better by thinking like an engineer. The Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering. It is my hope, that this grows into a powerful community where people share knowledge, or their passions and find happiness in their pursuits of making things better by thinking like an engineer. Thanks for listening,Brandon DonnellyPlease connect with me on linkedin @ linkedin.com/in/brandondonnellySupport the showThe Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering. If you are a conference organizer and are looking for an engineering or scientific speaker to inspire or educate in a keynote presentation, please reach out to me on LinkedIn. You can find my profile below. Thanks for listening,Brandon DonnellyPlease connect with me on linkedin @ linkedin.com/in/brandondonnelly

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of The Engineering Passion Express, we take you on a journey from a time when there were no reliable weather forecasts. Ships, planes and even family vacations were ruined by the lack of understanding how weather systems form and evolve.This story is told through the lens of Lewis Fry Richardson, one of the academic pioneers who worked on the mathematical foundations of weather prediction. He is a good foil to John Davis from episode 1 who invented the lane machine!Join me and learn where Lewis Fry Richardson failed, and how he had come up with a fantastical factory concept for predicting the weather at a time when the idea of the modern computer hadn't yet been invented!In this episode you'll get insight on how our values, and identities shape the kinds of problems we solve. Show Notes and LinksSend us a textThe Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering. It is my hope, that this grows into a powerful community where people share knowledge, or their passions and find happiness in their pursuits of making things better by thinking like an engineer. Support the showThe Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering. If you are a conference organizer and are looking for an engineering or scientific speaker to inspire or educate in a keynote presentation, please reach out to me on LinkedIn. You can find my profile below. Thanks for listening,Brandon DonnellyPlease connect with me on linkedin @ linkedin.com/in/brandondonnelly

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of The Engineering Passion Express, we take you on a journey from a time when no two bowling lanes played the same due to hand cleaning and oiling inconsistencies, to an era where precise patterns could be put down using machinery, and those patterns would determine how the game should be played on a given night. It's a study in picking the right problems to solve and finding a life's work where no one else may be looking.This episode is about the invention of the lane oil machine for bowling alleys. If you are a bowler, you are likely equipped to understand all the topics in this episode, if not, you don't necessarily need bowling knowledge as the key items you may not understand are explained. If you have no clue what bowling even is, as a passionate bowler myself, I would encourage you to learn more about the game!For this episode, I'm speaking to Don Agent, long-time employee of Kegel, the leading lane oil machine manufacturer in the world. He shares his insights of working with Kegel's founder John Davis, as they traveled the world, showing bowling proprietors how to improve the sport through use of specialized equipment and the creation of standards. Show NotesHere is a link to Kegel - https://www.kegel.net/Here is an example of a lane oil patternHere is what a modern lane oil machine looks like.Here is an article about lane topographyHere is a quick video demonstration of topographical effects on a bowlers shotYou can find a picture of the initial product, "The Key", here. Scroll down to the bottom under the year 1981.Support the showThe Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering. If you are a conference organizer and are looking for an engineering or scientific speaker to inspire or educate in a keynote presentation, please reach out to me on LinkedIn. You can find my profile below. Thanks for listening,Brandon DonnellyPlease connect with me on linkedin @ linkedin.com/in/brandondonnelly