What makes a great teacher?

Is there a message in there?

Who are your teachers? Whom do you learn from?

Whenever I talk to someone, or read an article, or finish a project, isn’t the goal that I come away having learned something? Isn’t that what makes Seth Godin’s stream of content so interesting?  He seems to find insight where others walk on by. Is that because he is a great teacher? He clearly has a lot to teach us. But, perhaps it’s that he is a great student. He’s more receptive to learning something new. Can we be as receptive?

My list of “teachers” is pretty long, but I’d guess none of them are aware of it. I don’t pay tuition, I don’t have tests, but if I don’t pay attention, I may get left behind. 

Are you looking for a teacher, or perhaps you have experience to offer someone else? The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has an eMentoring program that pairs young engineers with experienced ones. Do other societies have similar programs?

You don’t have to be in a classroom to have teachers. These are simply people you learn from, and they can be everywhere, if you’re listening.

Photo Credit: Rodolfo Clix

The Dreaded Product Recall

Today, peanut butter manufacturers have a problem: salmonella contaminated a huge batch, and hundreds of people have gotten really sick, six have even died. The tainted peanut butter was packaged for industry, not retail, and distributed around the country. Since it was sold to industry to be added to other products, the outbreak was stalled while the product was processed into everything from crackers to dog treats. The FDA and food industry can’t identify everywhere it went, so it could be virtually anywhere. That effectively makes everyone responsible and every candy bar and plate of Pad Thai a potential outbreak. The FDA appears to have tracked the salmonella to its source, but containing the problem is slow-going and far-reaching. The real question is why wasn’t this problem caught by the manufacturers or even via one of the distribution chains? Are food safety precautions not stringent enough or too slow, or was somebody trying to avoid consequences for something they hoped wouldn’t become serious.

I went through a product recall once in a past job many years ago. It was a small-batch production, but enough products had the same problem that a recall was issued. At the time, I was preoccupied with other projects, and my responsibility to adequately supervise assembly was sacrificed. The hardest part was accepting and admitting the mistake both with my colleagues and with my customers. Luckily, this was a low-quantity product, the problem was caught early, we had a personal relationship with every customer, and the potential consequences were minimal (aside from the damage to my ego). Our actions seemed straightforward, but customers appeared to really appreciate our proactive approach to retrieving the items, inspecting and fixing them, and returning them quickly. It certainly wasn’t the easiest thing to initiate, but it was the right thing to do and our customers were happy we did it. As a result of this experience, I still strive to remember that the delicate balance of properly supervising someone – somewhere between micro-managing and saying hello at the annual review – should be based on the needs of the employee, not my availability.

Kryptonite Locks once conducted an excellent example of what every customer hopes would happen when bad products make it onto the shelves. Kryptonite makes super strong locks for bikes and motorcycles. The locks are well known for their ability to stifle a thief. In 2004, after being the market leader for years, a video surfaced on YouTube showing a guy breaking into a tubular-cylinder lock in seconds with just the end of a $0.10 BIC pen. Not good for the lock business. Kryptonite initially offered a qualified recall for locks under 2 years old, but then they did the unthinkable – they issued a full and free recall of ANY of their locks using tubular cylinders and ran their manufacturing line around the clock to meet demand. “ANY lock” meant every over-used, 10-year-old, clunker well past its warranty. The Voluntary Lock Exchange Program ran for more than a year and freely replaced over 400,000 Kryptonite locks worldwide. They weren’t the only locks affected, but they were the only company to react so swiftly. It was a brilliant move that kept their reputation intact, although they might still be paying off the free locks and manufacturing overtime for years to come.

Bad things happen to the best companies. How long have you remembered the companies that got it right? How about those that got it wrong?

Photo credit: Enrico Corno

Visualize and win

Stay focused on success to avoid a crash

Whether you’re making a presentation or sitting in an interview, there’s no substitute for preparation. I’ve written before about the anxiety many feel while just preparing to do something. It can be debilitating thinking of all the things that can go wrong. However, once you’re committed, you have to push those thoughts out of your mind or they’ll eat you up.

Instead, think of exactly how you want things to go. Practice your witty joke to break the ice. Practice your response to a few tough questions. Imagine the best possible scenarios and think of all the ways you can get there.

That’s where you want to be.

Photo credit: Chad Schneider

Cross-train your brain

If you’re going to run a marathon, or participate in any sporting activity, most experts agree that cross-training is important to improve your overall fitness. Focusing too hard on one set of muscles leaves other muscles weak and prime candidates for injury. As an engineer, focusing too hard on a small skill-set may leave other parts of your brain starving for stimulation.

The internet is FULL of great content. Let your brain do some cross-training by expanding your input stream. Instead of listening to another webinar on the features of the next Solidworks release, maybe you want to stretch out and listen to an interview with Seth Godin on marketing your small business or check up on the state of innovation in the medical device industry for 2009. Not only will you have new things to talk about at dinner parties, but you might learn something related to your everyday.

Who/what are you paying attention to? Please share in the comments.

Photo credit: Rodolfo Clix

The Imposter Syndrome

Now that you’re in, are you qualified? Are they going to find out you’re really an imposter?

Maybe you just got into grad school, started a new job, or landed a new project. A case of the “Imposter Syndrome” can grab you no matter your experience or accomplishments. It’s the feeling that you don’t really belong, that you’re a fake or a fraud.

Actually, it’s a feeling that’s not uncommon, as I found out when I entered grad school. I’d gone back to school after a few years of working, so some of my technical skills were a bit rusty. I was hitting the books hard and putting in hours at the lab, but I was feeling overwhelmed and not sure of myself. Everyone else seemed to have it together.

Then I found out about the “Imposter Syndrome”. Apparently, it is well-known in grad-school circles, although not recognized among psychology professionals as a real disorder. For me, just knowing that people much smarter than me were having the same feelings helped. Hmm, I guess it didn’t occur to me at the time that this could have made me feel worse.

Confidence is often a fine line. Don’t dwell on your failures OR your successes. Be honest with yourself. Recognize your accomplishments, learn from your mistakes, and move on.

A few relevant links:
Wikipedia
Cal Tech Counseling
Chronicle of Higher Education
Overcoming the Imposter Syndrom

Photo credit: Meliha Gojak

Take this job and …

Build bridges instead of burning them.

I recently wrote a glowing recommendation for an old friend and ex-colleague. A bit ago, he moved on to greener pastures, or taller mountains, to improve his work/life balance. He’s an excellent engineer, and I hope to work with him again. He just needed a change. He tied up loose ends, simplified turnover, and even identified a candidate for his replacement. He reminded me that perhaps how we end a relationship is as important as the way we once cherished it.

This can be easier said than done, particularly when it comes to personal relationships. But, in a professional relationship, it’s generally not a personal issue. There are lots of reasons to leave a job or take your business elsewhere. Maybe you want more pay and less hours, or maybe you need a vendor closer to home to cut your annual shipping costs. However, don’t let these issues sour your professional relationship or conduct.

As satisfying as it might be to tell off your boss or vendor, nothing good can come from it. You’ll be much better served by acting professionally and graciously. Not only are you keeping your network intact, but you’re also leaving a trail of possible recommendations in your wake.

Photo credit: Julie Engal

Train hard, fight easy

Preparing to do something is often much harder that actually doing it. There’s often anxiety, stress, physical and emotional hardship, etc. In the end, most people sigh and quip, “That wasn’t so bad.” So why do we focus so much of our fear on the act itself?

Whether it’s giving a presentation, sparking up a conversation at a networking event, or sitting down to an interview, the act itself is often insignificant compared to the hours or even years put into preparing for this moment. Plus, let’s gain some perspective; unless you are actually training for a fight, the consequences are usually much less than we imagine. Is someone going to rudely quip that you’re stupid, yell at you in front of a crowd, or slap you across the face? Not likely.

Get out there. Revel in the good experiences, learn from the bad ones, and gain confidence either way. And, when you think, “What’s the worst that could happen?”, be realistic.

Photo credit: Fred Kuipers

Keep your resolution this year

This year, don’t just make a New Year’s resolution to work out and sign up for a gym membership. You need a commitment to keep you going. You need metrics to show you how well you’ve improved. 

Register for a marathon. Plan your year: a 10-miler in January, a half-marathon in May, and a marathon in October. 

Tell your friends about it. Even get them involved. Don’t be afraid to fail in front of them. You can’t fail. By showing up at all, you’ve succeeded in meeting your goal. 

Make this a year to remember. 

The Al Lewis 10-miler is on January 3rd. Hope to see you there.

Designing an anal probe

If someone offered to pay you to design an anal probe, would you do it? I once made the decision to, and my life was never the same again. It turned out to be a very interesting project with a lot of mechanical challenges, and by the time my prostate turns 50, hopefully that work will have meant something. “How about some details?”, you ask. Just a second.

Since I design a lot of medical devices at Key Tech, there are definitely going to be projects coming across my desk that might make some people squirm. It certainly made me, at first, but this was not to be my last work in anal probes. I have since worked on the design of an endoscopic tool to treat hemmorhoids and other lesions using infrared coagulation, and I even got to see a couple of relevant procedures performed. I don’t mind designing a device to be inserted into the rectum, stick needles into the brain, or palpate an eyeball, and I always appreciate the chance to observe a real medical procedure. Maybe I have a little bit of morbid curiosity. Yes, I do, but I am also happy to work on cool stuff.

Now, without getting too graphic, a few project details.

Fabricated prototype of the helical transrectal needle insertion device for prostate brachytherapy

In grad school, I designed a device that, using trans-rectal ultrasound imaging, could insert a needle through the rectum and into the prostate for the purpose of implanting radioactive “seeds” that kill the cancerous tissue. This procedure, known as brachytherapy, is normally done through the perineum. It’s painful because of a dense cluster of nerves at the site and not very accurate because of the much longer distance between the controlled insertion point and the target location. Our (myself and my advisors) hypothesis was that entering through the rectum would avoid those nerves and decrease the distance to the target, improving patient comfort and procedural accuracy. Preliminary testing on simulated tissue was inconclusive, meaning it wasn’t more accurate than the transperineal approach, but it should decrease pain and healing time. My work never made it to clinical trials, that I know of, so it’s impossible to quantify pain or healing time. That’s the 5-second summary, but if you want to see some calculations and read the details – there are absolutely NO pictures of anyone’s rectum, it’s all completely safe for work – then you can read my paper on the subject, which I also published and presented at ICRA 2004.

Thoughts and feelings

I tend to make decisions based on reason, logic, and data whenever possible. Seems to make good sense to me, and it’s pretty reliable. As an engineer, I HAVE to use this technique professionally, as it’s pretty hard to quantify feelings and, thus, defend any decisions based on feelings. I don’t think I’d want to get in a car designed by someone who simply felt the brakes were strong enough.

So, I tend to get into the habit of analyzing data for every decision. But, it’s important to break habits sometimes. Keep instinct in the back of your mind as tool, maybe as a tie-breaker when all other things appear equal or maybe as way to keep yourself balanced.

When I made the decision to go back to school, the data seemed to say it was a bad idea. I’d have to give up my salary for two years, and I could only expect a $5,000 pay increase for the extra degree. Plus, I didn’t have a research fellowship when I started, so I was also paying for tuition, room, and board on my own. A lot to invest for a meager pay increase. However, I could see my career path going in a direction I wasn’t in love with, and I had a strong feeling I would be happier and more satisfied after developing a specialty.

Seven years later, I’ve never questioned that decision. There were a LOT of long nights, and weekends were filled with homework, but I’ve never been more challenged. And, I’ve never done the calculation of how the financial investment worked out. I don’t have to.

The art of communication

My family went to North Carolina this weekend. With two small kids, the drive can quickly become an all-day affair. With my wife getting bored in the car, she took the opportunity to explore one of the personality compatibility webapps on her iPhone. It’s about as sophisticated as a teen magazine, but luckily enough, the app says we’re compatible (whew!). Best of all, since we answered certain questions the same, we should have an easy time communicating and an intuitive understanding of the other person’s concerns. Well, let’s just say there’s been a miscommunication or two over 5 years of marriage.

In business, many of my clients are often engineers, or maybe they’ve been one in a previous life. Maybe they’ve even worked in product development for 10 years. So, we have a lot in common; it would seem we’re even speaking the same language. However, I’ve found that no matter how many similarities there are between you, it’s all too easy for two people to be on different wavelengths. It may even take special effort just to realize that fact alone, much less correct it.

Sometimes, this fact can be exacerbated by the use of email. After all, if there’s any question down the road about who said what and when, I can just point to an email I sent notifying you of the change. But, having something said and having something heard can be two wildly different things.

Communicate early, and communicate often. speak clearly (leave out the jargon). LISTEN AND ASK QUESTIONS. Repeat.

If I tell you something, and you don’t understand, it’s my fault.

Are you experienced?

No matter what you want to do, it always helps to have a little experience to get yourself started. I know – it’s a Catch 22. How are you supposed to get experience if nobody will hire you without experience? But, really, it’s not that difficult to get experience if you’re willing.

In fact, as an engineering student, you will probably be lucky enough to find a PAID internship (or is that an externship?). If you had made the jump to marketing after deciding Thermodynamics wasn’t for you, that internship would likely be free of the burdens of compensation and the hours probably longer.

I had a couple of wonderful internships – one in a manufacturing plant. My main take-away from that job was my experience on the shop floor, getting to know the people, learning how to use the heavy machinery, and listening to them gripe about the engineering department. They knew what all the design flaws were, and how to solve them. They’d developed custom tools to improve assembly time. If anyone in engineering had asked their opinion for the next revision, they would have certainly gotten an ear full, and much of it useful.

I’m just glad I took advantage of the opportunity when I had it.

An engineer’s blog

This is a blog about my life as an engineer. I’m an mechanical, design, and/or product development engineer and a partner in a small business, but I have a few previous positions that also helped shape my career. I commute by car, by bike, and by Metro, so I’m sure I’ll also talk about the fun and frustrations of each.

Thanks for reading.

Chad