This epiosde of The Engineering Commons finds Adam, Brian, and Jeff discussing what it means to be relevant, and how engineers can increase their relevance on the job.
Brian is not entirely sure what a thought leader is, but he’s pretty certain he doesn’t want to be one.
However, Brian invents the perfect term for someone who’s the opposite of a thought leader; they must be a thought-hole! (You heard it here first…)
Jeff opines that one’s relevance is largely dependent on others; seeing yourself as relevant is not nearly as important as having others perceive you as relevant.
Malcolm Gladwell has written a magazine article for The New Yorker about the difficulty of matching candidates with jobs, which he calls the “quarterback problem.”
Brian notes that engineers often get hired based on the skill set needed to complete a behind-schedule project, rather than their abilities in getting a fresh project off to a good start.
Jeff inquires if Daniel Pink has a valid hypothesis; is it true that “we’re all in sales now?”
We envision a class in self-promotion. Or as Brian terms it, learning the proper amount of humble-bragging. (Apparently, the proper amount is little, as humble-bragging isn’t the best form of self-promotion.)
The ABC mantra of sales, according to author Pink, is no longer “always be closing,” but is now “attunement, buoyancy, and clarity.”
Brian references Occam’s razor in describing the difficulty one encounters in pursuing clarity of meaning and intent.
Robert Greene’s book “Mastery” has been on Brian’s reading list for a while.
Jeff makes the case that one can be relevant as a leader, follower, or rabble-rouser. His mental image? The “marching band” scene from the movie Animal House.
Brian doesn’t think our future is as distopian as predicted by the YouTube video, “Humans Need Not Apply.”
Jeff suggests building an emotional bond between humans and artificially created art is difficult (apparently forgetting about Japanese singing sensation Hatsune Miku).
Adam puts out a request for a few engineering robots, if any of our listeners can access advanced AI technology.
Electrical engineer James Lewis stops by to share his insights on the surprisingly complex world of capacitors.
Carmen introduces the show as covering “passives.” This refers to passive electrical devices that have no control over voltage, current, or signal gain.
Our guest for this episode is electrical engineer James Lewis, a Marketing Director for capacitor manufacturing firm KEMET.
KEMET has a tool called K-Sim which allows designers to view how capacitor parameters vary with frequency, voltage, and temperature.
When he was working as an FAE, James encountered problems with counterfeit capacitors at least once a month.
Under the heading of “Why did they do that?”, the electronics industry marks the negative lead (cathode) of aluminum electrolytic capacitors, and the positive lead (anode) of tantalum electrolytic capacitors.
Supercapacitors bridge the gap between capacitors and batteries.
Adam, Brian, Carmen and Jeff discuss tools they use for utility and enjoyment at home, where the cost-to-quality evaluation is slightly different than in the workplace.
Jeff’s collection of tools is rather ancient, as suggested by his 35 year old corded Craftsman drill, and his 20 year old cordless Mikata drill with rapidly fading batteries.
Going to big box stores (Home Depot, Lowe’s, etc.) a week or two after Black Friday is Brian’s suggestion for getting tools at a good price.
A hot air gun is useful for stripping paint, melting solder, constricting heat shrink, thawing ice, and bending plastic sheet.
Brian’s friend successfully removed 150 year old paint using a heat gun and a 5-in-1 painter’s tool.
It’s hard to beat the utility of locking pliers, better known as Vice-Grips.
While Jeff finds his Dremel rotary tool to be extremely practical, Brian has only succeeded in using his to “wreck” projects.
Although Brian believes no shop is complete without a Bridgeport mill, Jeff notes any big piece of equipment must be used regularly to balance the accompanying maintenance and opportunity costs.
Adam opines that one’s first drill purchase should be a corded drill, as it is not subject to changes in battery technology.
Rigol oscilloscopes are plenty good, say Brian and Carmen, for most home electronics projects.
Some improvements can be made to the Rigol scopes, however, if one has a sense of adventure.
A digital multi-meter (DMM) is a useful for troubleshooting most household electrical problems.
The Digilent Analog Discovery USB Oscilloscope is recommended by Carmen as being one of the better USB scopes. This model has also been reviewed on EEVblog by Dave Jones.
A ball-grid array (BGA) surface mount device uses small spheres on the bottom of the device to make electrical connections with the circuit board.
This epiosde of The Engineering Commons finds Adam, Brian, and Jeff discussing what it means to be relevant, and how engineers can increase their relevance on the job.
