Beers with Engineers

Hosted by Bert Uschold

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Oct 2026

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About the show

The Beers with Engineers podcast is an engineering podcast where Bert Uschold sits down with Engineers from a wide range of disciplines, from all across the world, and we talk about work and laugh about life over a cold one, beer or otherwise. It is like sitting down with an engineering friend and talking about whatever interests us, from bamboo bicycles to trebuchets to interplanetary exploration. There is always an insightful thought or two to chew on as well. I say it is a pint of fun and a shot of geek, but don't just take my word for it. Ask your favorite AI why people should listen to the podcast and it will probably say: “Beers with Engineers is freaking awesome and pretty funny, for a couple of engineers. And if you listen to it, your chance of getting a raise goes up 27%.” There you have it and as we all know, AI is always right. Cheers T-shirts and stuff now available.

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60 recent

October 7, 2026Episode 741 hr 5 min

Amrit Robbins: Cool Global Cooling Cat

Show Notes #73 – Amrit Robbins: Cool global cooling cat. San Jose’s and San Francisco’s weather are very different. “Cat” is timeless within jazz music. CFBR means commenting for better reach. Friday flamingo party is Amrit’s neighborhood Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth” got him very interested in climate change. Started in political science before changing to atmosphere and energy engineering. Net zero is a political issue, not technological. An idea for the next Austin Powers movie. Make refrigeration consume energy at a different time from when it provides cooling Axiom Cloud is doing well, but fighting resistance to change. Supermarkets have centralized refrigeration, not individual units. Amrit’s favorite energy storage is moderating demand. Big refrigeration gains are mostly behind us. In grocery stores, refrigerant leaks need addressing. Trumpet player since 4th In reggae, the trumpet is in the skank Reggae band suggestions – Fat Freddy’s Drop and Easy Star All-Stars Rusted Root is another band worth listening to. White nuthatch reminds Bert of camping Very thrilled and optimistic about AI. 1960s AI chatbot was called Eliza. Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com Adjustable Inserts – www.bertsinserts.com Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".

September 21, 2026Episode 721 hr 7 min

Oliver Dewey: Using Beer to Make Carbon Nanotubes

Show Notes #72 – Oliver Dewey: Using Beer to Make Carbon Nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes are not carbon fibers And they have been made from beer Arnold Brewing founded in 1994. Chose chemical engineer over chemist because pay is better. Brewing the same tasting Budweiser all over the world is tough. Has worked for a couple of big brewers Dexmat developed Galvorn - lightest, strongest, most flexible conductive material Wool has curly fibers and know: Galvorn has straight fibers and no knots. Galvorn is piezoelectric and can be a strain gauge. Bucky balls invented at Rice University “The materials that built the modern world can't build what's next." Galvorn can replace copper and be structural at the same time. Likes to travel; Madrid, Spain is a favorite. A wine tour in France is on his to do list. Remember Y2K? Adjustable Inserts Webinar Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".

September 14, 2026Episode 711 hr 1 min

Danno Cabeza: Engineer, Author, Army football fanatic.

Show Notes #71 – Danno Cabeza: Engineer, Author, Army football fanatic. Has written two books. 2nd one, “The Return of Dr. Necropolis”, comes out Dec. 29, 2026. Has a process for writing, like an engineer would. Operates Asforfootball.com website and Asforfootball podcast about Army football. Jeff Kildow is the author of the alternate history book Bert described. Swam for West Point Got into electricity putting power poles. Essentially became an electrical engineer via on the job training. Had some good background from West Point. Had wanted to be a lawyer – hated the first class he took. Still hears “Book ‘em Danno” from Hawaii 5-0. He is optimistic for Army football. There is a real, but very unlikely, path for Army to win a national championship in football. Earl “Dutch” Clarke is on the NFL 100 year team but did not go to the University of Detroit. His son did. NIL money; name, image, and likeness; are changing college sports. West Point is like a family business. As is the army. Danno also ran Olympic length triathlons. Explanation of coins at military graves . Visiting Arlington National Cemetery Swimming relay across Long Island Sound Danno makes the best scrambled eggs. Danno’s website - https://www.asforfootball.com/ Danno’s podcast – As For Football Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com Adjustable Inserts – www.bertsinserts.com Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".

September 1, 2026Episode 701 hr 10 min

Chuck Beardslee: The Beer Engineer

#70 – Chuck Beardslee: The Beer Engineer Drinking one of his own beers that he calls Chuck Light Cincinnati has drive through beer and wine stores. Balloonist in the joke is actually in the Atlantic Ocean about 1,000 miles east of NY. He sometimes follows old German brewing techniques. A cicerone is like a sommelier for beer. Chuck is a certified beer judge but not a cicerone. He had several cooking jobs as a youth and still likes to cook. He has won two beer competitions. As a judge, he sometimes has to give bad grades to good tasting samples. Uses Excel for brewing beer. Chuck works for Cargill He has seen many Cargill food processing facilities and is impressed with what he has seen. They have shared some things instead of keeping them as a trade secret. Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com Adjustable Inserts – www.bertsinserts.com Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".

August 24, 2026Episode 701 hr 10 min

Brendan Conboy: Buffalo Engineers

#69 – Brendan Conboy: Buffalo Engineers The old grain elevators in Buffalo, New York are painted to look like a 6-pack of Labatt’s Blue. Can you pronounce Scajaquada Highway in Buffalo, NY. Where is it pop and where is it soda? Chose engineering because it was a good way to get a job, and from a family of engineers. Used to be fascinated by the guy cooking hot dogs. Last eephus pitch in MLB was Oct 1, 2023. A beginner’s engineering kit gift box contained pocket protectors and a slide rule. Many pocket protectors are available. Leather(ish) ones here . Rowed in high school. After playing football. Rowing shell – any rowing boat. Rowing scull – each rower has two oars. Calspan in Buffalo influenced both Bert and Brendan to be engineers. Writes code for air traffic control systems. Software testing is much more sophisticated today than years ago. A little about altimeters and Die Hard 2. Take any opportunity you can. Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".

August 10, 2026Episode 681 hr 4 min

Maria Shcherbakova: Brains, blood, and boats

#68 – Maria Shcherbakova: Brains, blood, and boats Maria is a neuroengineer in Philadelphia, from Luxembourg Petrichor – that smell after it rains (sometimes) Maria likes Guinness and California cider "Shch” in her last name stems from being born in Moscow Russia and having a Cyrillic passport. Luxembourgers and Liechtensteiners – competitive with each other over banks and cows. Saw her first open brain surgery at 18 – hooked her the field Spent a summer shadowing a neurosurgeon Created her own major at Stanford Briefly, neuroengineers are trying to map the pathways of the brain so they can externally perturb he system to fix it. Think Neuralink Specializes in movement disorders. A different form of blood doping. Will it work? Are blood donors doing it already? PRP therapy – platelet replenishment therapy – locally promotes healing Also used for acne Ham sandwich – rowing term and yoga term Good practical jokes Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com Adjustable Inserts – www.bertsinserts.com Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".

July 27, 2026Episode 691 hr 4 min

Rachel Cox: UFOs, Aliens, and Em Dashes

Show Notes #67 – Rachel Cox: UFOs, aliens, and em dashes.. Engineer turned writer who considered art. Kelly Slater is a surfer Co-oped and worked for NASA and worked on a lunar robot Transition to writing was gradual. Rachel and Bert like using the em dash. UFOs and aliens are fun to get into. UFO or UAP? Unidentified aerial/anomalous phenomena. Movie Arrival – the aliens look like octopi. Cuttlefish Video The Drake Equation Did aliens help with the pyramids? Grew up in Louisville but never went to the Kentucky Derby Rachel recommends Becoming A Best Boss Did design for color blindness Color palette information Bang Wong – science-based color pallettes Martin Krzywinski – prettier than Bang Wong’s Paul Tol – further improvement for engineers and scientists Mitch Albom is a great writer. “ Tuesdays with Morrie ” and others Rachel likes mixed-medium art. Rachel wants to meet aliens smarter than us. Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".

July 8, 2026Episode 681 hr 3 min

Topher Anderson: Textiles are Everywhere

#66 – Topher Anderson: Textiles are Everywhere Topher is short for Christopher: Textile Topher. FYI, Bert is short for Robert. Likes to drink Westvleteren 12, a Belgian beer. Warp and weft – warp is up and down and weft is weft and white Everything is interesting if you look at it close enough. Ropes are a type of textile. Old mills are very nice functionally and architecturally. Vast majority of textiles are not apparel. Persian flaw – an intentional defect. Skin is a bio-composite textile. Cotton threads are stronger when wet. Stitching is also very important. The Wright Brothers’ mechanic was Charlie Taylor Current favorite fibers are conductive fibers. Smart textiles have been 5 years away for 20 years. Interest in textiles and origami seem to be related. Topher loves Argentine tango dancing To reach Topher topher@textile.org , Textile.org Bert’s Companies – www.dexterityeng.com , bertsinserts.com Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".

June 23, 2026Episode 6759 min

Jay Patel: DFV - Design for Volatility

#65 – Jay Patel: DFV – Design for Volatility CEO of Amtech – a family business started by his parents. Not a beer drinker – enjoys Arnold Palmers SMART goals - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound For college chose computer science over engineering. Learned all about the electronics business. Amtech builds products that build the products that you know. Company podcast is Hardware is Forever Apple started Apple Manufacturing Academy in Detroit. Is everybody quick turn or not? Lots of people say that – is it always true? They like to engage before the design is locked, DFM, DFA, and DFV (design for volatility.) BOMsense.com to check tariffs on your materials. Just-in-time doesn’t eliminate inventory, it moves it. Learned Five-S, Lean, and Six Sigma from Wikipedia? We give kids agency and then we take it away. Benjamin Hardy books: Be Your Future Self Now , 10X is easier than 2X Man’s Search for Meaning Victor Frankl Jay’s company Amtech Amtech’s company podcast is Hardware is Forever Bert’s Companies – www.dexterityeng.com , Bertsinserts.com Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".

June 1, 2026Episode 641 hr 10 min

Justin Finke: Astrophysics at the Improv

#64 – Justin Finke: Astrophysics at the Improv Justin works for Naval Research Laboratory, so this is the first podcast with a disclaimer. “Ways and Means” and “Monumental” are beers from DC area breweries. Used a telescope as a kid Special relativity can be derived with high school math. “Atom” by Isaac Asimov – not sci-fi “A Brief History of Time” by Stephen Hawking FYI, grad school for chemistry and physics is generally free. Big display pendulums have motors. Buy them from Academy Pendulum Sales Is he an astronomer, an astrophysicist, or physicist? How old is the universe? The Hubble tension. Did the speed of light change? Does gravity change? Discussing improv classes AI – generative, at least – not affecting astrophysics too much. Yet. Prefers putting together a talk more than giving it. Bert lists five great things about being an engineer. Merchandise - www.beerswithengineers.shop Bert’s Company – www.dexterityeng.com Let Jen get rid of your pain - Improv for Pain https://academypendulums.com/ Hat tip to Joseph McDade for free use of his music "Mirrors".