# Elif Miskioglu | The Science of How to Build Engineering Intuition

- Show: [Being an Engineer](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer)
- Published: 2026-09-18
- Length: 54m
- Episode: 39
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-09-18-elif-miskioglu-the-science-of-how-to-build-engineering-intuition

## Summary

Elif Miskioğlu, an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at Bucknell University, discusses her research on engineering intuition, supported by a $650,000 NSF CAREER Award. She defines intuition as the subconscious leveraging of prior experience and explains that it requires six to ten years of domain-specific expertise to develop reliably. Miskioğlu highlights the critical role of metacognition—knowing what you know and don't know—and the importance of psychological safety and reflection in accelerating this skill. She also warns against cognitive entrenchment, where experts might miss anomalies due to overconfidence.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-09-18-elif-miskioglu-the-science-of-how-to-build-engineering-intuition#t=0) Introduction: Elif Miskioğlu and Engineering Intuition
- [4:13](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-09-18-elif-miskioglu-the-science-of-how-to-build-engineering-intuition#t=253) Early Research: Bacterial Biosensors for Malaria Vectors
- [12:45](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-09-18-elif-miskioglu-the-science-of-how-to-build-engineering-intuition#t=765) Defining Engineering Intuition and Expertise
- [21:31](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-09-18-elif-miskioglu-the-science-of-how-to-build-engineering-intuition#t=1291) The Role of Metacognition and Pattern Recognition
- [25:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-09-18-elif-miskioglu-the-science-of-how-to-build-engineering-intuition#t=1505) Developing Intuition: Time, Failure, and Psychological Safety
- [39:42](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-09-18-elif-miskioglu-the-science-of-how-to-build-engineering-intuition#t=2382) Reflection, Meditation, and Cognitive Rest
- [49:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-09-18-elif-miskioglu-the-science-of-how-to-build-engineering-intuition#t=2994) Cognitive Entrenchment and Team Diversity

## Topics

- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)

## Most relevant to

established companies

## Mentioned

- Bucknell University (company)
- NSF CAREER Award (other)
- University of Wisconsin (company)
- Iowa State University (company)
- The Ohio State University (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [462: Spontaneously High Performing](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2023-10-19-462-spontaneously-high-performing) (Embedded.fm)

## Citing this page

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