It has been a super busy month for me, working on home remodels after work. This will be a quick write up on something I want to start using more - flashcards! For most people, flashcards are something they only use during school. However, I think they are worth using in your job as well. … Continue reading Flash Cards after College →

January is a great time to review my year and plan for the next. I have done this for a couple years and find it a great way to sharpen my thinking. I am combining my review and roadmap in a single post this year. Links to prior years: 2022 Roadmap, 2021 Review, and 2021 … Continue reading 2022 Review and 2023 Roadmap →

Turn the Ship Around by David Marquet is my favorite non-fiction book. It is told from the personal experience of Captain Marquet as he transformed a US Navy submarine from "worst to first". I love it so much because it is packed with actionable information and told through a memorable story. I really connected with … Continue reading Read for Success – “Turn the Ship Around” by David Marquet →

It has been a very long time since I have written in here. The first reason is that my personal life had some ups and downs. Obviously personal so I won't go into detail. The second reason is that I am still not very good at writing posts. I haven't yet found my voice, and … Continue reading Failure is No Reason to Quit →

Most people distinguish a difference between "book smarts" and "street smarts". Often these distinctions can be disparaging. My opinion is that it is not an either or proposition. Pairing the two together is the most productive way to live. Completing an engineering degree should give you a good level of book smarts. After that you … Continue reading Machinist Training for an Engineer →

It has taken me a while to write this both because it is not a simple topic and because my personal life took me away from my blog goals. After deciding from my 2022 skills evaluation that I wanted my teamwork skills to be a focus this year, I was left with a problem. How … Continue reading Teamwork – Deliberate Improvement →

Last year I published a post (link here) where I broke down the major skill categories I need as a mechanical engineer. I then proceeded to evaluate myself in each of those categories. The goal was to stir my critical thinking and help me focus my improvement efforts. Last year was actually the second time … Continue reading 2022 Skills Roadmap →

Let's take stock of my efforts this year (and Dec 2020) at becoming a better engineer. Writing this Blog - The personal commitment to write regularly has pushed me to make improvements now, rather than waiting for "later". The need to write about it has caused me to put in more whole-hearted effort rather just … Continue reading 2021 Improvement Review →

Last year, I passed the certified solidworks expert test. Even though this isn't an active improvement project for me, I thought I would document my experience. What it is and why valuable Solidworks has an array of certifications that are meant to demonstrate competency in using their software. Certified Solidworks Expert (CSWE) is the last … Continue reading Certified Solidworks Expert →

Last year I put a lot of effort into improving my solidworks skills. Some of what I say will apply to any modeling software and some will be solidworks specific. Doing product design - your 3D modeling skills are critical, useful at every stage from early ideation to finalizing documentation. The 3D model is at … Continue reading Solidworks Skill Upgrade →