# S7E32 Steven Szymeczek | From Taking Things Apart to Teaching Engineers How to Build

- Show: [Being an Engineer](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer)
- Published: 2026-07-31
- Length: 46m
- Episode: 32
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-07-31-s7e32-steven-szymeczek-from-taking-things-apart-to-teaching-engineers-how-to-bui

## Summary

Steven Szymeczek, a mechanical engineer and adjunct professor at Boise State University, discusses his journey from designing crop-duster components to launching a product development business and now managing a university lab. He details the challenges of early entrepreneurship, including the difficulty of pricing projects appropriately and the importance of building a network of manufacturing partners rather than relying on unreliable early 3D printing technology. Szymeczek also explains the rapid evolution of additive manufacturing, highlighting the shift from messy resin printers to accessible, fast systems like Bamboo Lab and Formlabs X1, and how these tools enable engineers to fail early and learn quickly. Finally, he describes his current role at Tech Help Studio Blue, where he leads a product development lab that gives students hands-on experience with real client projects, ranging from 3D-printed combat robots to medical devices.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-07-31-s7e32-steven-szymeczek-from-taking-things-apart-to-teaching-engineers-how-to-bui#t=0) Introduction: Steven Szymeczek and Early Engineering Roots
- [5:58](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-07-31-s7e32-steven-szymeczek-from-taking-things-apart-to-teaching-engineers-how-to-bui#t=358) Career Path: Crop Dusters, Aerospace, and Starting a Business
- [11:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-07-31-s7e32-steven-szymeczek-from-taking-things-apart-to-teaching-engineers-how-to-bui#t=675) Entrepreneurial Lessons: Pricing, Customers, and Shark Tank
- [19:17](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-07-31-s7e32-steven-szymeczek-from-taking-things-apart-to-teaching-engineers-how-to-bui#t=1157) Business Strategy: Undercutting, Budgeting, and Partner Networks
- [24:39](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-07-31-s7e32-steven-szymeczek-from-taking-things-apart-to-teaching-engineers-how-to-bui#t=1479) Additive Manufacturing Evolution: MJF, SLS, and Formlabs X1
- [31:57](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-07-31-s7e32-steven-szymeczek-from-taking-things-apart-to-teaching-engineers-how-to-bui#t=1917) Modern Prototyping: Bamboo Lab Printers and Fail-Fast Culture
- [37:25](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-07-31-s7e32-steven-szymeczek-from-taking-things-apart-to-teaching-engineers-how-to-bui#t=2245) Current Role: Managing the New Product Development Lab at Boise State

## Topics

- [Prototyping & iteration](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/prototyping)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Manufacturing partners & offshoring](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/manufacturing-partners)
- [Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/chips-and-fpgas)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies, companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Tech Help Studio Blue (company)
- Boise State University (company)
- 3D Printing Mentality (company)
- HP (company)
- Formlabs (company)
- Bamboo Lab (company)
- EOS (company)
- MakerBot (company)
- Airwolf HDR (product)
- Formlabs X1 (product)
- Bamboo Lab H2C (product)
- Bamboo Lab P1S (product)
- Shark Tank (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing with Steve Szymeczek of Penumbra Engineering](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/predictable-designs-podcast/2020-04-02-3d-printing-and-additive-manufacturing-with-steve-szymeczek-of-penumbra-engineer) (Predictable Designs Podcast)
- [Ep. 8 - Ryan from V1 Engineering](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/open-hardware-manufacturing-podcast/2023-11-09-ep-8-ryan-from-v1-engineering) (Open Hardware Manufacturing Podcast)
- [Scaling Creativity with Additive Manufacturing with Shawn Zindroski of SNL Creative](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/additive-snack/2024-11-05-scaling-creativity-with-additive-manufacturing-with-shawn-zindroski-of-snl-creat) (Additive Snack)
- [#016 - Developing with a hardware engineering company, with Karoly Molnar of ProDSP Technologies, Hungary](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2017-03-08-016-developing-with-a-hardware-engineering-company-with-karoly-molnar-of-prodsp) (The Hardware Entrepreneur)
- [#027 - Rapid prototyping - a platform and its essential tools, with Finbarr Watterson of Fictiv, USA](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2017-05-24-027-rapid-prototyping-a-platform-and-its-essential-tools-with-finbarr-watterson) (The Hardware Entrepreneur)

## Citing this page

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