# S1E52 Solving Problems, Prototyping, and the Power of Diversity in R&D | Martha Ganesh

- Show: [Being an Engineer](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer)
- Published: 2020-11-20
- Length: 44m
- Episode: 52
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2020-11-20-s1e52-solving-problems-prototyping-and-the-power-of-diversity-in-r-d-martha-gane
- Listen: https://teampipeline.us/solving-problems-prototyping/

## Summary

Martha Ganesh, Director of Operations at Scientia Vascular, discusses her transition from social work to mechanical engineering and her current role managing R&D and production teams. She emphasizes the importance of defining project scope, using formal documentation to prevent scope creep, and fostering diversity in R&D to solve complex problems like organizing small-diameter fibers. Ganesh shares lessons from her career, including a costly spelling error on a catheter launch and the value of prototyping with basic materials to iterate quickly. She also explains how her MBA provided necessary business context for engineering decisions and highlights the importance of asking practical interview questions to assess an engineer's hands-on experience.

## Chapters

- [0:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2020-11-20-s1e52-solving-problems-prototyping-and-the-power-of-diversity-in-r-d-martha-gane#t=41) Introduction: Martha Ganesh and Career Path
- [5:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2020-11-20-s1e52-solving-problems-prototyping-and-the-power-of-diversity-in-r-d-martha-gane#t=310) R&D Project Scope and Marketing Alignment
- [8:30](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2020-11-20-s1e52-solving-problems-prototyping-and-the-power-of-diversity-in-r-d-martha-gane#t=510) Estimating Costs and Timelines for Junior Engineers
- [15:39](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2020-11-20-s1e52-solving-problems-prototyping-and-the-power-of-diversity-in-r-d-martha-gane#t=939) Simplifying Designs and Knowing When It's Good Enough
- [17:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2020-11-20-s1e52-solving-problems-prototyping-and-the-power-of-diversity-in-r-d-martha-gane#t=1021) The Value of Diversity in Solving Hard Problems
- [19:22](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2020-11-20-s1e52-solving-problems-prototyping-and-the-power-of-diversity-in-r-d-martha-gane#t=1162) Prototyping Tools and Materials for R&D
- [22:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2020-11-20-s1e52-solving-problems-prototyping-and-the-power-of-diversity-in-r-d-martha-gane#t=1326) Career Successes and the $15,000 Spelling Error
- [33:38](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2020-11-20-s1e52-solving-problems-prototyping-and-the-power-of-diversity-in-r-d-martha-gane#t=2018) The Strategic Value of an MBA for Engineers
- [37:26](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2020-11-20-s1e52-solving-problems-prototyping-and-the-power-of-diversity-in-r-d-martha-gane#t=2246) Director of Operations: Scaling Production and NPI
- [41:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2020-11-20-s1e52-solving-problems-prototyping-and-the-power-of-diversity-in-r-d-martha-gane#t=2461) Interviewing Engineers: The 'Digging a Hole' Question

## Topics

- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Prototyping & iteration](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/prototyping)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Design for manufacturing & NPI](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/design-for-manufacturing)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Scientia Vascular (company)
- Bard (company)
- BD Medical (company)
- Pipeline Design & Engineering (company)
- testfixturedesign.com (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [IDology #7 - Tips on outsourcing R&D and product design work](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/idology/2023-01-31-idology-7-tips-on-outsourcing-r-d-and-product-design-work) (IDology)
- [Episode 203: So and So Johnson](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/making-it/2019-02-22-episode-203-so-and-so-johnson) (Making It)
- [119: Planning for the Unexpected in Product Design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-03-23-119-planning-for-the-unexpected-in-product-design) (Product Startup)
- [305: Humans Have a Terrible Spec Sheet](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-10-03-305-humans-have-a-terrible-spec-sheet) (Embedded.fm)
- [452: I Wish I’d Thought of That](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/making-it/2024-08-23-452-i-wish-id-thought-of-that) (Making It)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2020-11-20-s1e52-solving-problems-prototyping-and-the-power-of-diversity-in-r-d-martha-gane. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Being an Engineer.