Hardware Podcasts

How Soft Skills Drive High-Impact Engineering Teams w/ Aaron Moncur

The Manufacturing Executive · 26 Aug 2025 · Episode 272

What this episode covers

Aaron Moncur, founder of Pipeline Design & Engineering, discusses how soft skills like communication and psychological safety drive high-performing engineering teams. He shares specific management strategies, such as 'managing by invitation' and removing bureaucratic barriers to accelerate engineering speed, including the strategic use of 3D printing. Moncur also highlights the evolving landscape of engineering education, promoting his platform The Wave and the PDX expo as alternatives to traditional degree requirements.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Pipeline Design & Engineering, Google, Amazon, Apple
Products
The Wave, PDX, Being an Engineer, CAD Club

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Being an Engineer · 58m

    S7E9 Brad & Aaron | Top 5 Takeaways After Interviewing Over 300 Engineers

    Aaron Moncur and Brad Hirayama of Pipeline Design & Engineering distill five key career lessons from over 300 podcast interviews, emphasizing that understanding business context and developing soft skills are more critical for advancement than pure technical proficiency. They discuss the transformative role of mentors and coaches in providing hard feedback, the importance of doing high-impact work rather than just logging hours, and the necessity of establishing repeatable processes and checklists. The episode concludes by previewing a mini-series on accelerating engineering speed, highlighting tactics like hacking prototypes from off-the-shelf products and building psychological safety within teams.

    Careers & educationLeadership, teams & culture
    7 chapters

  • Being an Engineer · 1h 05m

    S5E36 Callye Keen | How to Accelerate the Speed of Engineering, Episode 2

    Callye Keen, founder of K-Form and Red Blue Collective, discusses strategies to accelerate engineering projects by addressing bottlenecks like poor Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and corporate bureaucracy. He advocates for 'failing fast' through rapid prototyping and buying competitor products to reverse engineer solutions, rather than relying solely on CAD. Keen emphasizes the importance of psychological safety, cross-functional collaboration using 'T-shaped' teams, and leveraging digital tools like Notion and Slack to maintain a single source of truth for distributed teams.

    Design for manufacturing & NPIPrototyping & iteration
    9 chapters

  • Being an Engineer · 1h 01m

    S7E18 Aaron Moncur | Building Pipeline, the Being An Engineer Podcast, and Engineering Communities

    Aaron Moncur, founder of Pipeline Design & Engineering, recounts his journey from being laid off during the 2009 recession to building a one-person engineering consultancy into a multi-brand company. He details the early challenges of cold-calling for clients, learning sales and marketing, and hiring his first team members while managing complex automation projects. Moncur also explains his mission to accelerate engineering through initiatives like the Being An Engineer podcast, The Wave online community, and the PDX Product Development Expo, aiming to highlight the impact of engineers on modern society.

    Starting a product companyLeadership, teams & culture
    7 chapters

  • Being an Engineer · 53m

    S7E14 Brad & Aaron | How To Accelerate The Speed of Engineering (Episode 3 of 3)

    Host Aaron Moncur and guest Brad Hirayama discuss organizational and cultural levers to accelerate engineering speed, focusing on vertical integration, psychological safety, and ROI management. They highlight the importance of in-person collaboration, using reusable asset libraries like McMaster-CAD models, and defining clear return on investment to prevent scope creep. The conversation emphasizes that trust and communication are critical for fast-moving engineering teams.

    Leadership, teams & cultureScaling production
    6 chapters

  • Being an Engineer · 48m

    S2E36 Shaking Things Up As We Get to Know Aaron Moncur

    Aaron Moncur, founder of Pipeline Design & Engineering, discusses the origins of his Phoenix-based firm and his podcast, Being an Engineer. He explains how the company evolved from general product design to a niche in custom automation and test equipment for the medical device industry. Moncur details his hiring philosophy, which prioritizes practical work samples over resumes, and shares insights on managing stress and maintaining motivation through process-oriented thinking and community engagement.

    Starting a product companyLeadership, teams & culture
    8 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by The Manufacturing Executive. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.