# 166: Sardine Tornado

- Show: [Embedded.fm](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm)
- Published: 2016-08-31
- Length: 1h 18m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-31-166-sardine-tornado
- Listen: https://makingembeddedsystems.libsyn.com/166-sardine-tornado

## Summary

Bob Apthorpe, a nuclear engineer with a background in web development, discusses the intersection of safety engineering, software reliability, and improv comedy. He explains how lessons from severe accident analysis, such as hydrogen control and molten fuel debris simulation, apply to software design, particularly regarding warning systems and common-cause failures. Apthorpe argues that the 'noise' of excessive compiler warnings or system alerts mirrors the 'annunciator panel' problem at Three Mile Island, advocating for rigorous signal-to-noise management. He also shares how stage improv helped him navigate workplace dynamics and accept failure as a necessary part of learning in hardware and software projects.

## Chapters

- [0:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-31-166-sardine-tornado#t=6) Introduction and Career Path
- [10:16](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-31-166-sardine-tornado#t=616) Nuclear Engineering and Hydrogen Safety
- [14:25](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-31-166-sardine-tornado#t=865) Software Simulation of Severe Accidents
- [28:25](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-31-166-sardine-tornado#t=1705) Compiler Warnings and Signal-to-Noise Ratio
- [36:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-31-166-sardine-tornado#t=2214) Common-Cause Failures and Resilience
- [45:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-31-166-sardine-tornado#t=2715) Engineering Ethics and Professional Licensure
- [58:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-31-166-sardine-tornado#t=3494) Improv Comedy and Workplace Dynamics
- [1:11:58](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-31-166-sardine-tornado#t=4318) Book Giveaway and Closing

## Topics

- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [Debugging & failure analysis](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/debugging-and-failure-analysis)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)

## Most relevant to

large enterprises

## Mentioned

- Atomic Accidents (other)
- Safeware (other)
- Every Anxious Wave (other)
- Three Mile Island (other)
- Fukushima (other)
- Hanford (other)
- Free Scale Kinetis (chip)
- STM32 (chip)
- MSP430 (chip)

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- [ValuJet 592 crashed in 1996 with 110 people aboard. We reconstruct the layered failure and what Perrow's normal accident theory says about why it happened.](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/go-no-go/2026-03-27-valujet-592-crashed-in-1996-with-110-people-aboard-we-reconstruct-the-layered-fa) (Go/No-Go)
- [I Know This! (Purpose-built systems with general-purpose guts)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-02-08-i-know-this-purpose-built-systems-with-general-purpose-guts) (Oxide and Friends)
- [Holistic Engineering with Robert Mustacchi](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2025-01-23-holistic-engineering-with-robert-mustacchi) (Oxide and Friends)
- [The Showstopper Show](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2021-08-17-the-showstopper-show) (Oxide and Friends)
- [CrowdStrike BSOD Fiasco with Katie Moussouris](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2024-07-25-crowdstrike-bsod-fiasco-with-katie-moussouris) (Oxide and Friends)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-31-166-sardine-tornado. 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 Embedded.fm.