Adam, Brian, Carmen, and Jeff discuss the importance of accurately estimating time and budget as a practicing engineer. Brian frequently makes estimates as part of his professional duties. Detrimental effects of our anchoring bias are noted by Jeff.

We catch up with Sam Feller (who previously joined us in Episode 70), discussing his interests, projects, and latest entrepreneurial ventures. Having left industry to pursue an academic career, Jeff isn’t chomping at the bit to move back into the entre...

In an episode that was recorded in early October, Adam, Carmen, and Jeff reflect on their summer activities, and on plans for the remaining months of 2017. Carmen spent a lot of his summer traveling, both domestically and internationally.

Adam, Brian, Carmen, and Jeff consider the boundaries of one’s own competence in this episode of The Engineering Commons. Competencies seem to be driven by past failures, notes Brian. For learning about “magical potions” developed with “unicorn science...

In this episode of The Engineering Commons, the gang discusses tailoring a presentation to meet the needs and interests of your intended audience. Adam’s favorite form of communication is an old-fashioned face-to-face conversation.

Adam, Carmen and Jeff discuss how engineering might change by the year 2040 in this episode of The Engineering Commons. Adam hopes to move a little higher into middle management over the next decade… unless he wins the lottery and can immediately proce...

This episode finds the gang discussing engineering projects that went awry, but did not result in the loss of human life. While map makers include trap streets to catch copyright violators, Adam reassures us he’s never been asked to physically construc...

We discuss the case of an Oregon man fined for “practicing engineering without a license” in this episode of The Engineering Commons. Both Jeff and Adam have attended a few plays authored by William Shakespeare.

Chris Gammell returns to The Engineering Commons to discuss how his views on engineering education (and the engineering profession) have evolved over the past five years. Jeff is coming to appreciate that learning is a social event.

In this episode of The Engineering Commons, we discuss an electromechanical component commonly used to achieve physical motion; the ubiquitous direct-current (DC) motor. Carmen admits to getting turned on by electricity… and sugar!