Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts |
This episode centers on tools that we enjoy using, whether engineering-related or not.
- Jeff is of the opinion that many engineering professors dislike teaching “tools” because software packages are constantly changing in scope and syntax, and associated teaching materials must be vigilantly updated.
- Reliability is an important characteristic for a good engineering tool, according to Carmen and Adam.
- Brian notes the economic foolishness of having an engineer “spin their wheels” due to a lack of quality tools.
- Chip-scale packages (CSPs) are mentioned by Carmen as a new technology requiring new tools.
- Brian asks about the need for traceability on tools (governed by NIST standards in the United States).
- Several communication protocols are mentioned in discussion of oscilloscope features: SPI, CAN, and I2C.
- We determine that Bridgeport Machines was acquired by a multinational corporation (Hardinge, Inc.) in 2004.
- Adam reveals that transportation departments establish contingency contracts to ensure access to big construction equipment in emergency situations.
- We learn about Ball Grid Arrays (BGA) from Carmen.
- Brian and Carmen converse about the best wire gage (AWG) for their soldering needs.
- The Pragmatic Podcast episode about coffee, produced by former TEC guest John Chidgey, is mentioned as a “must listen” for avid coffee drinkers.
- Emissivity is an important issue for those using infrared temperature detection.
- Mechanical pencil fans can find plenty of websites dedicated to the subject.
- Jeff’s tools:
- Adam’s tools:
- Carmen’s tools:
- Brian’s tools:
Thanks to J for use of the image titled “Tools.” Podcast theme music by Paul Stevenson.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts |
Electrical engineer John Chidgey joins us in this episode of The Engineering Commons to talk about ladder logic, podcasting, and an engineer’s role in making the world a better place.
- An open invitation to discuss general engineering issues got Jeff started in the world of podcasting.
- Carmen, Brian, and Adam became trapped involved as co-hosts on this podcast when Chris Gammell left the show.
- Our guest for this episode is electrical engineer John Chidgey, who has worked in several engineering domains, including RF hardware, systems engineering, and the oil & gas industry. He also produces a weekly podcast, Pragmatic, and authors the Tech Distortion website.
- Carmen and John are fans of making coffee with the Aeropress.
- Citizens band (CB) radio served to interest John in electrical engineering.
- John notes that there is a general trend toward standardization, as the costs of customization are too high for many companies.
- For a while, at least, John had a job that may (or may not have) required a security clearance.
- Our guest moved into the controls industry around 2003, installing programmable logic controllers (PLCs) for industrial clients.
- Many PLCs can be programmed using ladder logic, which originally was nothing more than a schematic for wiring together electromechanical relays.
- John has had some bad experiences programming PLCs with software implementing function block diagrams.
- “Where there is a choice, there is a problem.”
- After testing out several other podcast concepts, John launched the Pragmatic podcast to cover engineering topics in a practical and actionable manner.
- John mentions the Hypercritical blog, written by John Siracusa.
- Carmen is excited to read the recent OS X 10.10 Yosemite review that John Siracusa wrote for Ars Technica.
- “Engineering is all about tradeoffs.”
- In additional to covering technical topics, John’s podcast sometimes covers non-technical issues like weather forecasting and coffee.
- John reveals that he loves using whiteboards.
- A live chat room has recently been added as a feature of the Pragmatic podcast. Jeff doesn’t think he could handle the additional cognitive load while recording interviews.
- We’ve gone meta with a podcast about podcasting!
- John occasionally gets requests for career advice, although many times engineers write in to simply point out technical errors.
- According to our guest, engineers can change the world by providing reliable services and infrastructure that will improve people’s lives.
- John can be found on Twitter as @JohnChidgey and @PragmaticShow. His podcast is Pragmatic, and his website is Tech Distortion.
Thanks to Daniel Oines for the untitled photo of a crescent wrench. Podcast theme music by Paul Stevenson.
Practical insights for the engineering crowd