Bob Bouthillier: Innovation Requires Disobedience

#48– Bob Bouthillier: Innovation Requires Disobedience 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 innovation. Just as generals are well prepared for the last war, CEOs operate in a similar way. You don’t get real innovation without disobedience. Treat AI like an intern. Gell-Mann amnesia Effect – be careful trusting AI. His AI prompts are longer than the output. Pro2Health – inspiratory muscle trainer The Houston Rockets tested it. Plays the piano – had played professionally in bands. Neuro transformation therapy – cures PTSD Recommendations for engineers Learn python Learn agile techniques Learn to use large language model Learn to build agents with LLM. All the books: “Apple in China” by Patrick McGee “Blink” by Malcolm Gladwell “The Happiness Hypothesis” and “The Righteous Mind” by Jonathan Haidt “Switch” by Chip and Dan Heath “A Higher Call” by Adam Makos “Loon Shots” by Safi Bahcall AI Human Fusion” by Leanne Shelton Bob’s Podcast - “Innoguide” Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com

#47 – Jordan Poots: He’s good at maths. Mechanical engineer from Northern Ireland Who quickly went into software. Maths or math? Well, it is mathematicS. UK still has a mix of English and metric He was into AI before it was cool. Studied vehicle on-ramp merging Can change the car from altruistic to individualistic behavior Still interested in mechanical engineering, such as FEA. One use of AI for engineers is as a chatbot for help with software. AI makes arithmetic mistakes – it is know to struggle with it Evolutionary algorithms are a type of AI. Computers beat humans in chess and go. Poker is next. Jordan loves solving hard problems By his own accord, he is determined (or is it stubborn). He is a coffee nerd and won’t admit how much he paid for his coffee maker. Jordan sleeps like a baby – in the good way. Young engineers need to take risks. Try and find out. Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com Beers with Engineers merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop

#46 – Noel LaFlamme: Hammer and Forge Metallurgist Always interested in how things work and making it better. Which led to blacksmithing - by way of archery Made arrowheads out of rebar. Which (of course) led to a sword. Rules of thumb for temperature of steel. Blacksmithing is a hobby that makes a few bucks. Specialty is chef’s knives Good knives are tapered from spine to edge and from bast to tip. YouTube videos on knife making are a mixed-bag. 1st job out of college was at a venture capital firm. Left to be more involved in the actual creation. Three most important factors for a startup – the team, the team, and the team. Good innovation often comes from startup pivots. “Getting around” patents Really enjoys flyfishing – and makes his equipment Did fly fishing make Ted Williams a great hitter or vice versa. Craft food for the movie filming of Moonrise Kingdom was in his front yard. Apolo Anton Ohno is often confused for … Apolo Anton Ohno.   Reach Noel at www.Laflammeforge.com Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com

#45 – Dan Schreiber: Beer Flavored Ice Cream Dan is an architect in Green Bay but had always wanted to be a farmer. Stroh’s was the local macro-brewery when Dan and Bert went to college. They made ice cream, then and still do today. Do corn farmers put feed corn around the perimeter of their field? Bert and Dan rode a mechanical bull in Kentucky Felt like an architect on his second job. Dan thinks architects adopted CAD at about the same rate as engineers If he was born ten years later, he probably would have gone into IT. Early CAD was tough to use. To call yourself an architect, you need to be licensed. Not so for engineers. Licensing exam – 9 sections. The last one was 12 hours long. Are “no scale” and “not to scale” different? Antoine Davis (who?) and Pete Maravich. Throwing Hershey bars onto the basketball court. It is awesome going through a building you designed. Go to Marquette, MI to see his work. The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge, by David McCullough Using a tree as the center column of your building. Not a farmer today, but enjoys gardening. You can tap butternut trees. Makes a smooth, buttery syrup. In high school, Dan went into the engine compartment to work on the engine. T-shirts at www.beerswithengineers.shop. Use “podcast” for 15% off. Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com

#44 – Caitlin Vaillincourt: How to avoid braking chip. The edible ones. Pros and cons of longer or shorter college terms Played basketball in college and traveled abroad Part of global leadership development program at Avery Dennison and loved the experience. Interned at Frito-Lay reducing potato chip breakage. For now, she is happy with project management but misses working with customers. The 8D quality approach is eight disciplines, not eight things that start with D. https://asq.org/quality-resources/eight-disciplines-8d It seems easy to make a cable tie but many things can go wrong. Bert dares sci-fi writers to write a chapter on how a self-replicating probe replicates itself. She has her PMP – project management professional – certification. Project managers have to influence without authority. Started a new job just as Covid hit. Not easy In the early Covid days, our company sent masks to our colleagues in China. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt is well worth reading about phones and kids. Duo Lingo – some good and some bad. The Anxious Generation  by Jonathan Haidt   Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com Bert’s email - [email protected]

#43 – Josh Tarbutton: Accidentally Awesome Likes Sugar Creek Brewery in Charlotte, NC. They have a master cicerone (you’ll have to listen to find out) Started working at age 12. Got GED and went to Georgia Tech. PhD dissertation was on CNC machining software In the Army reserve in Iraq, he was a fuel specialist who actually knew about fuel. Bravo team name is partially from the SEAL team and partially from Italian Bravo! You do and learn a lot at product development firms. B-players in an A-system yields success. Engineers are driven to do their best. It is easy to mess up simple. Professors need to bring in money and publish Engineers paint the laws of the universe on the canvas of the world. Learning engineering is like learning cooking. College professors need some education classes. There’s no sympathy for professors and billionaires Being a professor is like running a startup. Inc 500 two years in a row (maybe 3?) Reach Josh: [email protected] www.bravoteam.tech Bravo Walk Dog Collar - https://bravowalk.com/ Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com

#42 – Gretchen Gagel: Leaving the world a better place. Likes beer from Boulevard Brewing in Kansas City In Australia, the living room is the lounge room. Went to SMU and saw Eric Dickerson play. Dad sold construction equipment and she played with Tonka trucks. Built Baltimore Ravens Stadium and many other things. Very little manufacturing in Australia, therefore most construction is infrastructure. Most construction job in Australia are 6 days a week. No wonder it is tough to hire. Some evidence shows same output in 4 days as in 5. Get the right people in the right seats on the bus. Culture and performance are key to team success. The Savannah Bananas have a great culture. Leaders need to be agile. Don’t be like Blockbuster or Kodak. Leadership training needs to start early Edgar Shine: Leadership is “Seeing things that need to be done differently and convincing people to do it.” Personal Mission Statement “Leave the world a better place than I found it.” Gretchen’s book: “Building Women Leaders: A Blueprint for Women Thriving in Construction.” The other books we mentioned “Apple in China” by Patrick McGee “Good to Great” and “Built to Last” by Jim Collins “Leadership” by James McGregor Burns “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey. Gretchen’s website - https://greatnessconsulting.com/about-gretchen/ Bert’s Sister’s quilts - www.ArtQuiltsBySuzanne.com Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com  

#41 – Wes Schwie: Porsches, patents, problems, and pigs. Became an engineer to be like his brother. Became a patent attorney because his friend’s uncle drove a nice Porsche. He learned writing patents and claims as mostly on the job training. First job as an inside sales engineer – wasn’t that good at it. Firm’s name of Gallium Law was proposed by a friend. Gallium (the element, not the law firm) has anti-bacterial properties. Favorite accomplishment is starting Gallium Law. Worked for Innovelis that makes mounts for various electronics gadgets. Patents aren’t as expensive as you might think (although they can be) Telling your friend about your product idea is not generally public disclosure. Also working with a company called Drivent, who is working on technology for self-driving cars. Home much credit does the person who identified the problem have vs. the person who invented the solution? There is no cross examination in a deposition. Different rummy card games. Monopoly Deal is a card game version of Monopoly. Wes can empty his mind – with the help of Yoga. Breath by James Nestor. Wes Schwie's Company - Gallium Law  www.GalliumLaw.com Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com              

#40 – John Clarke: Don’t be a cow on ice Found morel mushrooms in his yard and ate them. And ventured into others. Hunting wild berries Drinking Little Willow beer – tired it because his daughter is Willow. Tried numerous manual labor jobs in high school – which convinced him to go to college. Manager to engineer to manager. Worked at a high tech textile company A great project that was awful. A crazy way to remove tatoos. Maybe. Nitinol tubing in a medical device Lack of documentation really annoys him. Feeling like a cow on ice. Who is your chief jailable officer? Design validation vs design validation. DHF vs DMR John bakes, his wife cooks. John plays guitar, bass, and other similar instruments Likes the freedom of music. John and his wife listen to music totally differently. Bert turned John onto early Fleetwood Mac.   John’s business - Fern Hill House Gardens  On Facebook. Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com

#39 – Kyle Smith: Engineering knowledge and wisdom Kyle saved Bert’s butt by modifying parts overnight You tend to repeat small mistakes, but not big ones. Another engineer who started with Legos Self-taught on an early computer animation program – Maya. Which led into SolidWorks Got a mill for cheap and converted to CNC Kyle and Bert both use Send Cut Send – not sure how they make money. Company name is Sparrow Hawk Design – small and agile. Industrial designers need to interact with engineers. Two excellent books Manufacturing Processes for Design Professionals Handbook of Product Design for Manufacturing Can AI advise you on capabilities of manufacturing processes? Prediction: AI will be in SolidWorks in the not to distant future. Difference between junior and senior engineers Executives don’t need to know all of the problems Flies radio control airplanes and built drones Rides motorcycles Wants to ride from Patagonia to Alaska Kyle’s company – www.sparrowhawkdesign.com. Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com