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Being an Engineer
30 episodes
Tony Kelbert | Authenticity, Engineering, and the Business of Manufacturing
Ep 34 · Aug 14, 2026 · 1 hr 12 min
Send us Fan Mail Tony Kelbert is a mechanical engineer, manufacturing strategist, and Chief Burrito Officer at AeroGrowth, an organization focused on helping precision manufacturers pursue and win the right aerospace and defense work. Drawing on experience from both the OEM and supplier sides of the industry, Tony helps manufacturers better understand positioning, quoting, customer relationships, and the realities of selling into complex aerospace supply chains. Tony began his engineering career…
S7E33 Sam Thomason | The Black Magic of Nano-Machining
Ep 33 · Aug 7, 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
Send us Fan Mail Sam Thomason’s career sits at the intersection of technical sales, manufacturing automation, Japanese business culture, and advanced machining. With more than 14 years of experience in CNC machinery, factory automation, and industrial robotics, Sam has worked across the U.S., Japan, and Australia helping manufacturers evaluate and adopt technologies that improve productivity, safety, and competitiveness. He is currently National Sales Manager for Shibaura Machine Company, Americ…
S7E32 Steven Szymeczek | From Taking Things Apart to Teaching Engineers How to Build
Ep 32 · Jul 31, 2026 · 47 min
Send us Fan Mail Steven Szymeczek joins the podcast to share a career shaped by curiosity, hands-on learning, and a willingness to explore new opportunities. He traces his path from taking apart gadgets as a child to manufacturing crop-duster components early in his career, designing aircraft interiors, and eventually launching his own product development business. Steven and Aaron discuss the realities of moving from engineering into entrepreneurship, including learning how to communicate with…
S7E31 Stanley Leong | Engineering Your Finances: A Former Electrical Engineer’s Guide to Building Wealth
Ep 31 · Jul 24, 2026 · 51 min
Send us Fan Mail Stanley C. Leong brings an unusual and highly relevant perspective to the world of engineering career development: he started as an engineer, then built a second career helping engineers manage the wealth and financial complexity that can come with technical success. He earned both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University before working in chip design roles at IBM and Agilent Technologies. That early engineering background still shape…
S7E30 Steve Riley | Small Improvements, Big ROI: Lessons from the Factory Floor
Ep 30 · Jul 17, 2026 · 37 min
Send us Fan Mail Steve Riley brings a unique perspective to Being An Engineer because he is not an engineer by title, but he has spent his career working directly in the environments where engineering, operations, manufacturing, and continuous improvement have to come together. His background spans plant leadership, program management, operations management, engineering management, injection molding, medical products, carbon fiber manufacturing, dental equipment, and Lean/5S implementation. Stev…
PDX 2026 Tickets Are 50% Off August 3–7
Jul 16, 2026 · 1 min
Send us Fan Mail PDX 2026 is October 20-21 in Phoenix, AZ. Attendee tickets are 50% off August 3-7 only. Learn more and register at https://pdexpo.engineer/ Subscribe to the show to get notified so you don't miss new episodes every Friday. The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment like cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, in…
S7E29 Heylands Lowry| Building an Engineering Culture of Continuous Improvement
Ep 29 · Jul 10, 2026 · 39 min
Send us Fan Mail Heylands Lowry is a globally experienced continuous improvement and operational excellence leader with deep expertise in Lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, and organizational transformation. Over the course of his career, he has helped companies across medical devices, aerospace, and manufacturing build sustainable systems that improve efficiency while strengthening culture and employee engagement. Known for his ability to connect with people at every level of an organization, Heyla…
S7E28 Justin Rittenhouse | What Engineering School Doesn’t Teach You About Industry
Ep 28 · Jul 3, 2026 · 50 min
Send us Fan Mail Justin Rittenhouse is a mechanical engineer, educator, and industry leader whose career sits at the intersection of advanced engineering analysis, manufacturing innovation, and mentorship. With a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and degrees in Aerospace Engineering, Justin has built a strong technical foundation in structural mechanics, computational methods, and advanced simulation tools such as FEA and DEM. His academic journey is complemented by hands-on expertise in programmi…
S7E27 Daniel Kurnianto | The Engineering Journey Behind the World's First Electronic Coffee Tamper
Ep 27 · Jun 26, 2026 · 50 min
Send us Fan Mail Daniel Kurnianto has built his career at the intersection of mechatronics, lab automation, product management, and hands-on mechanical design. With more than 19 years at Formulatrix, he has led and contributed to the development of high-precision life science instruments, including crystallography and liquid-handling platforms used in research and pharmaceutical environments. His experience spans full product lifecycle work: concept development, detailed engineering, injection-m…
S7E26 Paul Vizzio | From Prototype to Product: How Paul Vizzio Engineered RemieDog Into a Real Hardware Business
Ep 26 · Jun 19, 2026 · 41 min
Send us Fan Mail Paul Vizzio is a seasoned hardware engineering leader with deep expertise in building complex electromechanical systems and scaling them from early prototypes to full production. Currently serving as Director of Hardware Engineering at Proteus Motion, Paul led the end-to-end development of a patented 3D resistance training system that has been deployed in more than 400 locations across the U.S. and Canada. His leadership spanned the full product lifecycle—from system architectur…
S7E25 Yesenia Avellaneda | Engineering, Medicine, and Manufacturing Leadership
Ep 25 · Jun 12, 2026 · 31 min
Send us Fan Mail Yesenia Avellaneda is an engineering leader whose career sits at the intersection of innovation, operations, and impact. Currently a Senior Project Engineer within Global Operations at Abbott, she has built a reputation for turning complex ideas into scalable, high-performing manufacturing systems. From leading New Product Introduction (NPI) efforts to executing international production transfers and launching entirely new facilities, Yesenia thrives where strategy meets executi…
S7E24 Larry Copponi | The Most Important Skill To Get Hired As An Engineer
Ep 24 · Jun 5, 2026 · 42 min
Send us Fan Mail For more than 40 years, Larry Copponi has been working at the intersection of engineering talent and product innovation. Today, he serves as Vice President of Staffing Solutions at Spanner Product Development, where he helps companies across industries assemble the engineering teams they need to bring complex products to life. Larry’s work spans sectors including consumer electronics, robotics, renewable energy, life sciences, and medical devices. His team specializes in placing…
S7E23 Jordan Kapitanoff | Screw Manufacturing, LEAN Processes, and Investing for Engineers
Ep 23 · May 29, 2026 · 52 min
Send us Fan Mail Jordan Kapitanoff is a mechanical engineer by training and a transformation leader by practice. A graduate of Kettering University with a BSME and an MBA from Aurora University, Jordan built his career at the intersection of engineering, operations, and culture change. Over the years, he has consistently stepped into roles where systems, teams, and processes needed elevation — and delivered measurable results. At Bison Gear & Engineering, Jordan moved from Application Engineer t…
S7E22 Amelia Howe | Developing Medical Device Injectrodes for Pain Reduction, & Project Management Best Practices
Ep 22 · May 22, 2026 · 52 min
Send us Fan Mail Amelia Howe is a biomedical engineer and R&D project manager whose career spans startups, research labs, and established medical device companies. She currently leads cross-functional development programs at COLTENE, where she coordinates teams across engineering, quality, regulatory, and manufacturing to bring new medical devices from concept to international launch. Amelia’s journey into engineering began with a pivotal shift early in her academic career. While studying at The…
S7E21 Rod Scholl | Pro Tips from 30-Year Analyst For Accurate Simulations (FEA & CFD)
Ep 21 · May 15, 2026 · 48 min
Send us Fan Mail Rod Scholl is the Founder and Principal Analyst at Epsilon FEA, an engineering services company he launched in 2008 to specialize in advanced numerical analysis and simulation-driven problem solving. With nearly two decades at the helm, Rod has built Epsilon FEA into a trusted partner for companies tackling challenging structural, thermal, and dynamic performance problems across a wide range of industries. Before founding Epsilon FEA, Rod spent over a decade at PADT, Inc. as a S…
S7E20 Mahantesh Hiremath | How to Influence Public Policy As An Engineer
Ep 20 · May 8, 2026 · 53 min
Send us Fan Mail Dr. Mahantesh Hiremath has built a rare engineering career at the intersection of deep technical rigor, systems thinking, leadership, and service. Across more than three decades, he has worked in space, energy, transportation, and infrastructure, and is recognized as one of the few engineers to have designed and analyzed complex systems in four very different environments: deep underground, offshore, on-ground, and in space. His academic background includes M.S. and Ph.D. degree…
S7E19 Ryan Schoonmaker | How to Take A Structured Approach to Solving Engineering Problems
Ep 19 · May 1, 2026 · 54 min
Send us Fan Mail Ryan Schoonmaker has spent roughly two decades in medical device product development, building a career around solving hard engineering problems in high-stakes environments. Today he is the founder of Tight Line Solutions, where he works with growth-stage product development teams to reduce chaos, improve execution, and build the kind of systems that make technical organizations more efficient and predictable. His messaging consistently emphasizes that innovation is not just abo…
S7E18 Aaron Moncur | Building Pipeline, the Being An Engineer Podcast, and Engineering Communities
Ep 18 · Apr 24, 2026 · 1 hr 2 min
Send us Fan Mail In this special role-reversal episode of the Being An Engineer podcast, longtime host Aaron Moncur steps into the guest seat while previous guest Mike Romance takes over as interviewer. Aaron shares the story behind his journey from a laid-back childhood growing up in Hawaii to becoming the founder of Pipeline Design & Engineering in Phoenix, Arizona. After being laid off during the 2009 recession, Aaron faced a moment of uncertainty that ultimately pushed him to start his own e…
S7E17 Joe Couitt | How to Design for Swiss Machining
Ep 17 · Apr 17, 2026 · 44 min
Send us Fan Mail Joe Couitt is the founder of JMC Swiss Solutions, a Phoenix-based consulting firm dedicated to CNC Swiss applications and machining optimization. With more than a decade of hands-on experience in high-precision manufacturing, Joe has built a career grounded in programming, setup, prototyping, and department-level leadership. Joe began his machining career at Aerospace Contacts LLC, where he developed a strong foundation in precision manufacturing. From there, he advanced into CN…
S7E16 Chad Walters | Constraints, Iteration, & Industrial Design in Product Development
Ep 15 · Apr 10, 2026 · 51 min
Send us Fan Mail Chad Walters is an experienced product design leader with more than two decades of experience developing complex products across healthcare, life sciences, aerospace, defense, and commercial markets. As the first industrial designer at a major engineering-focused design center in the Raleigh-Durham area, Chad helped establish and grow a strong user-centered design presence within an organization traditionally driven by engineering and manufacturing excellence. Throughout his car…
S7E15 Mustafa Poonawala | Diagnostic Clinical Trials, Prioritization, & Decision Latency in Engineering
Ep 15 · Apr 3, 2026 · 42 min
Send us Fan Mail Mustafa Poonawala is a globally recognized leader in medical device and diagnostics innovation, known for his ability to translate strategy into execution across R&D, clinical operations, and portfolio management. Over a career spanning more than two decades, he has built and led world-class engineering and program teams, guided products from early development through regulatory approval, and driven large-scale organizational transformation in highly regulated environments. Curr…
PDX Webinar Trailer, Engineering for Success: Making Product-Market Fit an Actionable Design Goal
Apr 2, 2026 · 1 min
Send us Fan Mail Watch the webinar here! Great engineering alone does not guarantee product success. Achieving product-market fit—ensuring that a product truly meets user needs and expectations—requires integrating market insights, usability considerations, and business goals into the development process. But how can engineers quantify something that often seems subjective? In this PDX Webinar, Arne Lang-Ree, Chief Design Officer and Cofounder at Spanner, will demonstrate how product-market fit…
S7E14 Brad & Aaron | How To Accelerate The Speed of Engineering (Episode 3 of 3)
Ep 14 · Mar 27, 2026 · 53 min
Send us Fan Mail In this final episode of the three-part series on accelerating the speed of engineering, Aaron Moncur and Brad Hirayama zoom out to focus on the organizational and cultural levers that compound over time. While earlier episodes explored how individuals and teams can move faster, this conversation tackles the bigger picture—how companies structure their environments, decision-making, and culture to consistently deliver results. They break down practical strategies like vertically…
S7E13 Brad & Aaron | How To Accelerate The Speed of Engineering (Episode 2 of 3)
Ep 13 · Mar 20, 2026 · 53 min
Send us Fan Mail In part two of this three-part series on accelerating the speed of engineering, Aaron Moncur and Brad Hirayama shift the focus from individual habits to team workflows. Drawing from patterns that have surfaced across 300+ Being An Engineer interviews, they explore how better systems can help teams move faster from idea to hardware to validation. Brad and Aaron dig into practical ways to reduce wasted time and avoid preventable mistakes: defining requirements clearly, validating…
S7E12 Flash Training: Design for Assembly: Why Fewer Screw Lengths Makes Everything Easier
Ep 12 · Mar 18, 2026 · 4 min
Send us Fan Mail Watch this flash training here: https://youtu.be/QCy9i4TB2b4 When engineers design parts in isolation, it’s easy to unintentionally introduce dozens of slightly different fastener lengths into an assembly. That might not seem like a big deal during CAD, but it becomes a real problem on the shop floor. In this short engineering pro tip, Pipeline automation engineer Mark Blakey explains a simple strategy he uses in SOLIDWORKS to standardize screw lengths across an assembly. By adj…
S7E11 Brad & Aaron | How To Accelerate The Speed of Engineering (Episode 1 of 3)
Ep 11 · Mar 13, 2026 · 49 min
Send us Fan Mail In this special kickoff to a three-part miniseries, Aaron Moncur and Brad Hirayama explore one of the most important—and often overlooked—skills in engineering: how to accelerate the speed of engineering work without sacrificing quality. Drawing insights from more than 300 episodes of the Being An Engineer podcast, Aaron has distilled recurring lessons from experienced engineers into 21 practical best practices. In this first episode, Aaron and Brad break down the first seven st…
Engineering Industry Evangelist
Mar 10, 2026 · 3 min
Send us Fan Mail Pipeline Design & Engineering About Pipeline Pipeline solves difficult manufacturing problems through automation, custom equipment, fixtures, and product development. We also build community through PDX, the Being An Engineer podcast, CAD Club, meetups, webinars, and The Wave. The Role We’re hiring a relationship-first Business Development leader. This is not a transactional sales role. We’re looking for someone who can build trust with engineering leaders and manufacturing team…
S7E10 Daniel Gledhill | How to Win at People-Centered Leadership in Engineering Teams
Ep 10 · Mar 6, 2026 · 56 min
Send us Fan Mail Daniel Gledhill is a seasoned manufacturing and engineering leader whose career bridges high-risk industrial operations and precision-driven medical device manufacturing. Daniel leads engineering teams responsible for multiple production areas supporting transcatheter heart valve delivery systems—products where quality, reliability, and patient safety are absolutely critical. Daniel’s journey to medical devices began in heavy industry, where he worked as a process, chemical, and…
S7E9 Brad & Aaron | Top 5 Takeaways After Interviewing Over 300 Engineers
Ep 9 · Feb 27, 2026 · 58 min
Send us Fan Mail After more than 300 episodes of conversations with engineers, founders, and technical leaders, certain patterns start to emerge. In this special retrospective episode of Being An Engineer, Aaron Moncur and Brad Hirayama flip the mic around to distill the biggest lessons learned from six years of interviews. Instead of focusing on any single quote or guest, they zoom out and identify the recurring themes that consistently show up in the careers of high-performing engineers. Surpr…
S7E8 Matt Ketterer | Professional Growth through Interdisciplinary Exploration
Ep 8 · Feb 20, 2026 · 48 min
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we join Matt Ketterer, a seasoned engineer, at Pipeline Media Studio's inaugural session. Matt shares his career journey, from his initial foray into mechanical engineering to his pivotal shift towards controls and software engineering. He discusses his early days at a medical device company, his methodical approach to learning and applying new skills, and the importance of reading technical manuals, which aided his transition into controls engineering. Matt als…
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