# 333: Project Purgatory

- Show: [Embedded.fm](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm)
- Published: 2020-06-04
- Length: 52m
- Episode: 333
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2020-06-04-333-project-purgatory
- Listen: https://makingembeddedsystems.libsyn.com/333-project-purgatory

## Summary

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.

## Chapters

- [0:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2020-06-04-333-project-purgatory#t=6) Introduction and Background
- [5:18](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2020-06-04-333-project-purgatory#t=318) Area 515 Makerspace and Community
- [9:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2020-06-04-333-project-purgatory#t=581) Pandemic Face Shield Production
- [18:20](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2020-06-04-333-project-purgatory#t=1100) Career History and Consulting
- [21:19](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2020-06-04-333-project-purgatory#t=1279) Robot Failure at Pioneer
- [33:46](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2020-06-04-333-project-purgatory#t=2026) Engineering Culture and Advice

## Topics

- [Maker community & events](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/maker-community)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Debugging & failure analysis](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/debugging-and-failure-analysis)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies, companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Area 515 (company)
- Dojo Five (company)
- Pioneer (company)
- Raspberry Pi (chip)
- Arduino (tool)
- ROS (tool)
- GreenGate 3D (company)
- Sierra CNC (company)
- Drake University (company)
- Barnum Factory (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Episode 213: LIVE from Maker Faire Bay Area!](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/making-it/2019-05-24-episode-213-live-from-maker-faire-bay-area) (Making It)
- [Episode 100: Live From Boston!](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/making-it/2016-12-09-episode-100-live-from-boston) (Making It)
- [530: If No Disasters Happen...](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/making-it/2026-07-24-530-if-no-disasters-happen) (Making It)
- [Episode 310: Thank you, Brain!](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/making-it/2021-06-11-episode-310-thank-you-brain) (Making It)
- [525: All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/making-it/2026-05-15-525-all-i-got-was-this-lousy-t-shirt) (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/embedded-fm/2020-06-04-333-project-purgatory. 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.