# An Interview with Brock LaMeres

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2020-06-22
- Length: 1h 12m
- Episode: 497
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2020-06-22-an-interview-with-brock-lameres
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/497-an-interview-with-brock-lameres/

## Summary

Brock Lameres, a professor at Montana State University, discusses his transition from industry at Hewlett Packard to academia, emphasizing the importance of practical, context-driven teaching in electrical engineering. He details his research on radiation-tolerant computing for space missions, specifically using FPGAs with triple modular redundancy (TMR) and reconfigurable hardware to mitigate radiation faults, which has been tested on the ISS and CubeSats. Lameres also explains his innovative approach to teaching embedded systems by using low-cost, USB-powered microcontrollers to enable immediate, hands-on coding in every lecture, a model that proved highly effective during the shift to online education during the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2020-06-22-an-interview-with-brock-lameres#t=0) Introduction and Career Path
- [2:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2020-06-22-an-interview-with-brock-lameres#t=172) Teaching Philosophy and CAD Tools
- [16:58](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2020-06-22-an-interview-with-brock-lameres#t=1018) Distance Learning and Lab Design
- [23:45](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2020-06-22-an-interview-with-brock-lameres#t=1425) Student Engagement and Assessment
- [31:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2020-06-22-an-interview-with-brock-lameres#t=1870) Vocational vs. Traditional Education
- [39:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2020-06-22-an-interview-with-brock-lameres#t=2373) Radiation-Tolerant FPGA Research
- [45:22](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2020-06-22-an-interview-with-brock-lameres#t=2722) Space Missions and CubeSats
- [57:40](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2020-06-22-an-interview-with-brock-lameres#t=3460) Reinventing Embedded Systems Course

## Topics

- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Microcontrollers & dev platforms](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/microcontrollers-and-platforms)
- [Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/chips-and-fpgas)
- [Robotics & autonomy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/robotics-and-autonomy)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)

## Most relevant to

established companies

## Mentioned

- Montana State University (company)
- Hewlett Packard (company)
- Keysight (company)
- Intel (company)
- NASA (company)
- Artemis program (other)
- SatNOGS (other)
- Springer (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [134: Diet-Friendly Dog Food](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-01-14-134-diet-friendly-dog-food) (Embedded.fm)
- [303: Kids, Turn in Your Chips](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-09-19-303-kids-turn-in-your-chips) (Embedded.fm)
- [Ep 323: Impossible CRT Surgery, Fuel Cells, Stream Gages, and a Love Letter to Microcontrollers](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2025-05-30-ep-323-impossible-crt-surgery-fuel-cells-stream-gages-and-a-love-letter-to-micro) (Hackaday Podcast)
- [233: Always the Wrong Way](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2018-02-09-233-always-the-wrong-way) (Embedded.fm)
- [376: Left Half of My Brain Is Digital](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2021-06-10-376-left-half-of-my-brain-is-digital) (Embedded.fm)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2020-06-22-an-interview-with-brock-lameres. 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 The Amp Hour.