Hardware Podcasts

S5E17.5 PDX: Roger Labrecque

Being an Engineer · 1 May 2024 · 10m · Episode 17

What this episode covers

Roger Labrecque, an engineering manager with over 25 years of experience and 20 patents, discusses his upcoming presentation at the PDX (Product Development Expo). He explains that his talk focuses on five key lessons learned, emphasizing that early-career engineers often try to be heroes alone, whereas real success comes from cross-functional collaboration and humility. Labrecque shares a specific example of working with marketing and doctors to iterate on a medical device and test methods, highlighting the importance of Voice of Customer and robust design through teaming.

Most relevant to

established companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Pipeline Design & Engineering
Also
PDX, MD&M, Automate, Rapid

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Product Startup · 18m

    189: The Power of Your Team in Building Hardware Innovations

    Paul McEnroe, the creator of the UPC barcode standard while at IBM, discusses the critical importance of team composition and communication in building hardware innovations. He explains how he assembled a diverse group of senior experts to develop the barcode system, emphasizing the need for complementary technical skills and a shared goal. McEnroe highlights specific leadership strategies, such as using debate skills to simplify complex technical concepts for executives and actively soliciting input from quieter team members to ensure all insights are captured.

    Leadership, teams & cultureStarting a product company
    6 chapters

  • Embedded.fm · 52m

    333: Project Purgatory

    Bailey Steinfadt, a product manager at Dojo Five and long-time board member of the non-profit maker space Area 515, discusses her diverse engineering career and community work. She details the massive volunteer effort to produce over 6,000 face shields for emergency services during the pandemic, highlighting the logistical challenges of distributed manufacturing. Steinfadt also recounts a specific failure at Pioneer involving a soil-moving robot with active-high brakes that rolled out of control upon restart, and reflects on her transition from corporate roles to consulting and back to a product management position.

    Maker community & eventsScaling production
    6 chapters

  • NPI Sherpa · 19m

    DeepDive: Notable Interview Recaps - NPI TACTICS & TEAMWORK (19m35s)

    Rob Carl, CEO of Global NPI Solvers, applies his 40 years of electronics industry experience and Kilimanjaro climbing methodology to New Product Introduction (NPI). He argues that the 'Valley of Death' between prototype and mass production requires treating manufacturing like a survival expedition, where 'rocks' like unscalable tolerances (e.g., 5-micron vs. 20-micron) kill projects. Carl emphasizes that high performers must pivot by dropping legacy tools ('trekking poles') and that true success is stabilization, not just launch, achieved through distributed strength and respecting factory workers via the philosophy of Ubuntu.

    Design for manufacturing & NPIScaling production
    6 chapters

  • The Builder Circle · 1h 26m

    S1 E5: The Path of Product Design for Successful Development with William Burke

    William Burke, founder of Five Flute, discusses the critical balance between over-constraining and under-constraining design requirements, advocating for a living Product Requirements Document (PRD) anchored by non-negotiable values. He outlines best practices for user studies, emphasizing observation over leading questions, and details how to integrate Design for X (DFX) principles early in the process to avoid costly late-stage changes. Burke also shares hardware hacks, such as using paper templates and MATLAB/Python for first-principles calculations, and offers insights into the future of AI in mechanical engineering, particularly regarding CAD automation and design review.

    Validation & product-market fitDesign for manufacturing & NPI
    9 chapters

  • The Manufacturing Executive

    How Soft Skills Drive High-Impact Engineering Teams w/ Aaron Moncur

    Aaron Moncur, founder of Pipeline Design & Engineering, discusses how soft skills like communication and psychological safety drive high-performing engineering teams. He shares specific management strategies, such as 'managing by invitation' and removing bureaucratic barriers to accelerate engineering speed, including the strategic use of 3D printing. Moncur also highlights the evolving landscape of engineering education, promoting his platform The Wave and the PDX expo as alternatives to traditional degree requirements.

    Careers & educationLeadership, teams & culture
    6 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Being an Engineer. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.