Beers with Engineers

#64 – Justin Finke: Astrophysics at the Improv

• Justin works for Naval Research Laboratory, so this is the first podcast with a disclaimer.
• “Ways and Means” and “Monumental” are beers from DC area breweries.
• Used a telescope as a kid
• Special relativity can be derived with high school math.
• “Atom” by Isaac Asimov – not sci-fi
• “A Brief History of Time” by Stephen Hawking
...

#63 – Amy Barrickman: “Feng Shui? No way!”

• Amy studied interior design, acting, and a little improv comedy.
• Likes a beer brewed with raspberries called framboise. Amy thought it was German but the internet says it is Belgian.
• Who wants a Beers with Engineers recipe exchange?
• Interior designer versus interior decorator.
• Feng shui is still a thing, but Amy doesn’t like it.
• She was an actress before being ...

#62 – Jeff Kildow: Engineering Menaces

• Jeff is a retired aerospace engineer turned author.
• He writes alternate history novels.
• His latest is Nazi Menace. Get it at Amazon.
• As a 10-year old, sent a letter to the Northrup Institute of Technology, and got a reply.
• Jack Northrup handed him his diploma.
• GM and Northrup started universities to train employees.
  • So did Arthur D Little
• Eventually went to school there ...

#61 – Irene Chan: Planning NASA Space Flights

• Irene is a flight planning engineer at a NASA supplier who drinks stout.
• Teachers encouraged her to try a career in math.
• Fear of gangs in East LA was real.
• Spent a lot of time at libraries as a child
• Both Irene and Bert read the encyclopedia for fun.
• “Stand and Deliver” great movie and true story
• Initially she struggled with calculus and physics in college.
• Parti...

#60 – Elliot McAllister: Butterfly net for alien microbes

Elliot McAllister, founder and CEO of Skyphos Technology in Blacksburg, Virginia, and winner of a Beers with Engineers T-shirt giveaway for being the 1,001st connection. We discuss hands on tinkering and cycling the Iditarod Trail. Engineering wise, we discuss materials science and microfluidics. Sorry, but you’ll have to listen to find out how aliens and butterf...

#59  – Brogan Miller: Being Uncomfortable is Good

Brogan Miller is the founder of Doula Studios where he bills himself, accurately I might add, as a doula for early stage hardware start-ups. We cover many topics, including our favorite beverage while camping and why manufacturing is more difficult than design.

• Brogan is a Gaelic name
• A brogue accent is mostly Irish but also in parts of Scotland
• Brogan’s defini...

#58 – Wyatt Bonicelli: Birds – Natural and Manmade

Wyatt is a structural engineer for Boeing in Oklahoma, helping maintain the KC-135 fleet. Unsurprisingly, he enjoys military aircraft, and we later learn of an affinity for more natural birds. Throw in a couple SEO companies that he operates and we had a lot of interesting things to talk about. Be sure to check out the SR-71 speed check story, which is mentioned but not...

#57 – Dave Cooper: Navigating from student to engineer

Dave Cooper went from barely graduating high school to teaching university engineering students. In between, he was a navigator for the Marines and worked on refrigeration systems for NASA. We also learn that Dave and Bert share an affection for animated cubic sponges with a palindromic name. He hopes to soon form a father/son engineering team.

Also:

• After leaving M...

#56 – Doug Katz and Gordon Downey: The Tony Stark of Adaptive Products

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Nulu Knives: https://nuluknives.com/  BWENULU2026 to save on a Nulu knife

• Doug Katz – wouldn’t name children Alley or Tom
• Gordon Downey considered April Fresh and Summer Breeze for his twins
• Doug went to West Point
• Gordon is an industrial designer but started studying advertising
• Was als...

#55 – Howard Silverstein: Sometimes it just Clix

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• Likes to drink a black and tan
• Tonight, opening a bottle of 18 year old Macallan
• Has a mechanical mind but is not handy with tools.
• Likes to keep it simple.
• “Yes if…” not “No because…”
• The business card holder he worked on.
• They invented “Clix” to fill boats with gas without s...

#54 – Naeem Turner-Bandele: His plan is electrifying

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• Likes to drink Ginjinha, a Portuguese cherry liqueur
• Wanted to be a professional soccer player.
• Moved to Brazil and discovered power outages were frequent.
• Then he got a serious concussion and pivoted to wanting to start an energy technology company.
• From no interest in engineering to getting a PhD.
• He is known for being ...

#B5 – Josh Weaver: Engineers/Christmas

• Josh is Bert’s nephew for this Christmas themed podcast
• Josh is drinking a Bell’s Lighthearted IPA.
• Bert is enjoying a Bailey’s Irish Cream.
• One semester as a computer science major.
• A few years as a commercial painter but did not see it as a long term thing.
• Started working for his step-father’s manufacturing company.
• Forgive the dog sneaky toy in the backgr...

#53 – Stan Leong: Engineering Your Finances

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• Stan is a Buffalo Bills fan, like Bert.
• Electrical engineer from Cornell
• Likes how the simple things of electronics build into complex things.
• Was laid off the week after he bought his first house.
• Saw a financial job on Monster.com (remember that?)
• Got all his clients through cold calling
• So miserable his wife handing out resumes...

#52 – Therese Miclot: The Engineer Whisperer

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• Drinking a Spotted Cow, available only in Wisconsin.
• Observed her mom who struggled with bad bosses.
• Got intrigued by the psychology of work.
• First job at a heavy engineering company – Rockwell
• Found leadership and communication skills lacking in engineers.
• But both are important even if you don’t want to go into mana...

Show Notes

#51 – James Kell: Seven continents without trying

• James lives on the beach in Bondi, Australia
• He could be a wedding crasher without making up occupations
• Likes to do fasting 36 – 72 hours
• Studied engineering in Germany but went into construction
• He eats Vegemite and teaches the secret of eating it.
• Australians also check to see if water swirls the other direction in the toilet when crossing the equator.
...

#50 – Charles Gillis, P.E.: Engineering and art

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• Drinking a Start Line IPA in honor of his hometown, Hopkinton, where the Boston Marathon starts.
• His mom knew he would be an engineer long before he did.
• Has an interest in art, but isn’t an artist
• Artist and engineers both combine existing things in new and interesting ways.
• Worked controllable pitch propellors
• First jo...

#49 – Scott Bruneau: A traditional non-traditional engineer

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•  an engineer is somebody who makes precise guesswork based on unreliable data provided by people with questionable knowledge.
• Studied nuclear engineering in high school. Yes, high school.
• Buuuut, got his engineering degree late in life.
• An early position was in quality – to get to know the parts – becau...

#48– Bob Bouthillier: Innovation Requires Disobedience

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• Like father, like son. His father was an electrical engineer.
• But started college as a pharmacist
• Did quality inspection of guns – including a Howizter cannon.
• He can assemble guns fast – not quite as fast as Forrest Gump.
• Inspecting ball bearings – stains vs pits.
• His podcast summarizes books on innov...