Mechanical engineering
Product design & engineering
939 episodes across 46 shows cover mechanical engineering. The shows that cover it most are Shop Talk Live, Hackaday Podcast and Making It. The most recent, from 8 Oct 2026, is “The truth about data center water usage” from Catalyst.
Mechanisms, enclosures, structures, tolerances, thermal design, CAD models and mechanical failure.
939 episodes from 46 shows, most relevant and most recent first.
939 episodes
AI Is Getting Hot: Can Additive Manufacturing Help Cool It Down?
Professor PS Lee, founder of CoolestDC and head of Mechanical Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS), explains how additive manufacturing (AM) enables complex unibody cold plates that reduce junction temperatures by…
S7E21 Rod Scholl | Pro Tips from 30-Year Analyst For Accurate Simulations (FEA & CFD)
Rod Scholl, founder of Epsilon FEA, discusses the critical role of engineering judgment in Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), contrasting his early career at Honeywell and PADT with his current consulting…
Designing Space Robots
Chris Finger, a sales engineer for Harmonic Drive, discusses the technical challenges of designing space robots, focusing on the specific requirements for strain wave gearing in vacuum and extreme temperature environments. He details the…
PCB Connectors That Survive Space, Shock & 500 Thermal Cycles
Shane Dabrowski, a Field Applications Engineer at Samtec, explains how the company’s Severe Environment Testing (SET) and MIL-DTL-55302 lot-based testing validate standard connectors for military, aerospace, and LEO satellite applications…
Bonus Episode: Revolutionising agriculture with 'grain-swimming' robots
Lorenzo Conti, Founder and CEO of Crover, explains how his company developed the world's first subterranean drone to monitor grain storage, addressing safety risks like 'green entrapment' and spoilage. He details the mechanical engineering…
S6S25 Andy Thompson | Practical Applications of GD&T
Andy Thompson, a mechanical and manufacturing engineer with over 20 years of experience at Northrop Grumman, explains how Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) serves as a critical common language between design, manufacturing, and…
S6E22 Dean Odell | Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing (GD&T)
Dean Odell, a mechanical engineering instructor at Hudson Valley Community College and popular YouTube educator, discusses the history, application, and teaching of Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing (GD&T). He explains how GD&T evolved…
Robots Everywhere with Aaed Musa
Aaed Musa, a mechanical engineering student at Purdue and YouTuber, explains how he builds low-cost quadrupedal robots like 'Kara' using off-the-shelf brushless motors and custom 3D-printed capstan drives to achieve high precision with…
Inside Omron’s Next-Generation LD Mobile Robots
Miguel Garces Moreno, Product Marketing Manager for AMRs at Omron, discusses the European robotics market, highlighting growth in collaborative robots and AMRs driven by labor shortages and supply chain pressures. He previews the…
199 - How Modeling Can Cut in Half for Combination Products, V&V 40, and Cutting Dev Time with Mark Burchnall
Mark Burchnall, Director of Engineering at PSN Labs, explains how mechanical modeling and simulation can reduce prototype iterations by 50% in combination product development. He details the use of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and…
Inside a Multi-$Billion IP Engine Driving IC and EDA Innovations
John Koeter, Senior Vice President of IP at Synopsys, discusses the evolution of semiconductor intellectual property, the shift to multi-die chiplet architectures, and the transformative role of AI in chip design. He details Synopsys'…
Commercial Fusion Has Started: How Helion Is Bringing Power to the Grid by 2028
Anthony Pancotti, co-founder and Head of R&D at Helion Energy, explains the company's mass-manufacturable approach to commercial fusion, targeting a 2028 grid connection via a landmark power purchase agreement with Microsoft. He details…
Episode 153: Origami-inspired robots - Chenying Liu
Chenying Liu, a Junior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, explains how embedding intelligence into robot bodies through geometry and materials enhances autonomy. She details the design of an origami-inspired robotic gripper that…
S7E8 Matt Ketterer | Professional Growth through Interdisciplinary Exploration
Matt Ketterer, a controls and mechanical engineer, discusses his career transition from medical device design to automation and software engineering. He details his early work at Becton Dickinson on extrusion and molding processes, and his…
IPC 2221 vs. 2152: The Truth About PCB Trace Current Ratings
Mike Jouppi, formerly of the IPC 2152 Task Force, joins host Zach Peterson to explain why the IPC 2221 standard’s internal trace charts are misleading because they were derived from traces removed from the board and tested in free air, not…
Automated Multiphysics for 3D IC Success
Chevanoki and John Ferguson from Siemens EDA discuss the challenges of automated multiphysics analysis for 3D IC design, specifically how power, heat, and stress interact in stacked heterogeneous architectures. They explain the shift from…
S7E5 Scott Roberts | The Stainless Steel Hardening Process Most Engineers Don’t Know Exists
Scott Roberts, North American Regional Sales Manager for Bodycote’s S³P technologies, explains the Kolsterising process, a low-temperature carbon diffusion treatment that hardens stainless steel and cobalt-chromium alloys without…
Frontier Forum: The new power map for AI infrastructure
KR Sridhar, CEO of Bloom Energy, argues that AI data centers must adopt captive, off-grid power generation to meet the speed and scale of the current infrastructure boom, comparing traditional grid reliance to a "faster horse and buggy."…
70% Emissions Cut by Electrifying Trailers: The Green Future of Trucking
Jason Chua, Chief Product Officer at Range Energy, explains how their Volton retrofit kit reduces Class 8 diesel truck emissions by 70% without replacing existing tractors. The system integrates a battery pack (2-300 kWh), an electric…
S5E19 Krishna Raichur | The Ins & Outs of Engineering Simulation (FEA, CFD)
Krishna Raichur, a Principal Engineer at SimuTech Group and Ansys Certified Elite Channel Partner, discusses the evolution and application of engineering simulation, including FEA and CFD. He highlights a case study involving CFD…
Inside Glacier's Mission to Modernize Recycling
Rebecca Hu-Thrams, CEO and co-founder of Glacier, explains how Glacier Robotics builds custom gantry robots to automate material recovery facilities (MURFs), addressing the challenge of sorting diverse, contaminated waste streams with high…
123: The Last Detail with John Siracusa
John Siracusa, proprietor of Hypercritical.co and co-host of the Accidental Tech Podcast, discusses the 2019 Mac Pro, which he calls the 'cheese grater.' He details its industrial design, including the iconic perforated aluminum front…
Fatigue & Fracture Behavior in AM Materials with Nima Shamsaei of Auburn University
Nima Shamsaei, a professor at Auburn University and Director of the National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence (NCAME), discusses the fatigue and fracture behavior of additive manufacturing (AM) materials. He explains that…
The truth about data center water usage
Tim Shedd, founder of Ebullient Insights, explains how the shift from air cooling to single-phase direct-to-chip liquid cooling is transforming data center thermal management. He details how modern GPU racks drawing 220 kW to 500 kW+…
224. Geothermal Could Save the Grid. So Why’s No One Talking About It?
The hosts discuss Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), a technology leveraging advanced oil and gas drilling techniques to generate baseload power from hot rock anywhere, potentially supplying 20% of US energy by 2050. They analyze specific…
Where it comes up11:31
Sustainable Kitchens: Smart Induction Stoves for Fighting Climate Change with Sam D’Amico
Sam D’Amico, Founder and CEO of Impulse, explains how his company is launching a smart induction stove with a 3 kilowatt-hour integrated battery to accelerate home electrification and grid stability. He details the engineering challenges…
195. Wear This Exoskeleton & Save Your Knees!
Hosts Daniel and Forbode discuss a University of Michigan research project developing a knee-focused exoskeleton to support blue-collar workers. The device retrofits commercial knee braces with drone motors and uses a physics-based machine…
EP 192: Talking Apple Silicon with Apple's Tom Boger, Kaiann Drance, and Sri Santhanam
Tom Boger, Kaiann Drance, and Sri Santhanam from Apple discuss the transition to 2-nanometer process technology across the A20 Pro and M-series chips, highlighting the shift to a dual neural engine and unified memory architecture. They…
S4E29 Drew Devitt | Porous Media Air Bearings
Drew Devitt, founder and CTO of New Way Air Bearings, explains the physics and applications of porous media air bearings, which use millions of sub-micron orifices in materials like graphite or ceramic to create frictionless motion. He…
Storing Clean Energy with Air & Water: Hydrostor’s Game-Changing Tech
Curtis VanWalleghem, Co-Founder and CEO of Hydrostor, explains how his company uses compressed air energy storage in underground caverns to provide long-duration grid stability. He details the engineering of the system, including thermal…
Episode 122: Bio-inspired flying robots - Jane Pauline Ramos Ramirez
Jane Pauline Ramos Ramirez, a PhD researcher at Delft University of Technology’s Biomimetic Intelligence Lab, discusses her work on bio-inspired drones capable of both flying and walking. She explains the mechanical and control challenges…
Plasma Tunnel Boring Machines to Revolutionize Energy Transmission: Insights from Troy Helming, Founder and CEO of EarthGrid
Troy Helming, Founder and CEO of EarthGrid, explains how his company uses patented plasma tunneling technology to bypass the interconnection bottlenecks stalling renewable energy projects. He details the engineering challenges of managing…
Robots Need Physical, Not Just Artificial, Intelligence
Emeritus Prof. Rodney Brooks, CTO of Robust AI and founder of iRobot and Rethink Robotics, discusses the necessity of physical intelligence in robotics, arguing that reactive systems and force control are superior to pure position control…
S5E48 Kordel France | Olfactory AI
Kordel France, an AI architect currently working at Toyota, discusses the nascent field of machine olfaction, or teaching robots to smell. He explains that while applications in automotive HVAC, aerospace leak detection, and quality…
S5E16 James Rogers | R&D Engineering Series – Interview 1 of 6
James Rogers, a mechanical engineer with a master's in additive manufacturing, discusses the unique mindset required for R&D engineering, emphasizing the need to embrace ambiguity and failure as learning opportunities. He contrasts R&D…
Driving Towards Sustainability with Electric RVs: Insights from Ben Parker, Co-Founder at Lightship
Ben Parker, Co-Founder and CPO of Lightship, discusses the development of Lightship, an electric and aerodynamic solar-powered recreational vehicle designed to reduce gas usage and accelerate EV adoption. Parker explains how the company…
198. Scared of Turbulence? AI ~Might~ Fix That
Hosts Daniel and Forbode discuss a new algorithm called Falcon, developed by researchers from Caltech and Nvidia, designed to help aircraft and drones sense and counteract turbulence. The team uses Fourier methods to model wind energy…
The Road Ahead for Robotics: Insights from Motional's Major and Foundation's Pathak
Laura Major, CEO of Motional, discusses the company's autonomous vehicle strategy, emphasizing the shift from technical to business leadership, the use of AI for long-tail problem solving, and their safety record of zero at-fault accidents…
S7E17 Joe Couitt | How to Design for Swiss Machining
Joe Couitt, founder of JMC Swiss Solutions, explains the mechanics and design constraints of Swiss machining, highlighting how sliding headstock technology achieves tighter tolerances than standard lathes. He details common engineering…
Decarbonizing Water Heating with Intelligent Water Heaters: Insights from Michael Rigney of Cala Systems
Michael Rigney, CEO and co-founder of Cala Systems, explains how his company is decarbonizing residential water heating through an intelligent heat pump water heater that uses predictive control to shift energy load. Rigney details the…
Episode 83: Life-like artificial systems - Estelle Raffy
Estelle Raffy, a PhD student at the University of Bristol, explains how decentralized biological systems like octopuses and single cells inspire her work on 'life-like' artificial systems. She details the use of tensegrity structures in…
Turning Idle Wells into Renewable Power Solutions with Kemp Gregory of Renewell Energy
Kemp Gregory, Co-founder and CEO of Renewell Energy, explains how his company repurposes idle oil and gas wells for gravity-based energy storage to address grid intermittency. He details the system's core components—a weight, winch, and…
Episode 156: Rugged robots for dangerous missions - Gavin Kenneally
Gavin Kenneally, Co-Founder and CEO of Ghost Robotics, discusses the development and deployment of the Vision 60 Q-UGV, a rugged quadruped robot designed for defense, security, and industrial applications. He details the engineering…
Industrial design prototyping vs simulations - IDology #21
Piotr Dalewski and Mikołaj Wiewióra of Mindsailors discuss the strategic balance between physical prototyping and computer simulations in industrial design. They explain that while prototypes validate ergonomics, assembly, and tactile…
Free Online PDX Event: Simulation in Product Development
The episode serves as a promotional announcement for a free online PDX event featuring simulation expert Krishna Raichur, a 35-year industry veteran. The webinar focuses on teaching practical Finite Element Analysis (FEA) skills, including…
Where it comes up0:01
PCB Thermal Design Deep Dive with Ethan Pierce
Ethan Pierce, founder of Dodec Labs, joins host Zach Peterson to discuss PCB thermal design, drawing on insights from his recent talk at PCB East. They explore the importance of early thermal problem identification, the limitations of…
Ashutosh Shukla | Engineering Premium Brands, Building Engineering Community, & Inventing MFG Processes
Ashutosh Shukla, Director of Mechanical Engineering at Rivian, discusses his career at premium brands including Bose, Apple, Snap, and Meta. He details the engineering challenges of using sapphire crystal for iPhone camera covers, which…
Marine Electrification to Reduce Costs and Environmental Damage: A Conversation with Marcelino Alvarez, CEO of Photon Marine
Marcelino Alvarez, CEO and founder of Photon Marine, explains the company's strategy to electrify commercial boat fleets by targeting high-duty-cycle operations like fishing and tourism, which offer better environmental and economic…
S5E16.5 PDX: Joe Moak
Joe Moak, a product design engineer with 25 years of experience at Apple, Sonos, and Black Diamond, discusses his upcoming presentation on tolerance analysis at the PDX event. He explains how starting tolerance analysis early in the design…
232. Turbine Innovations For A Greener Future [Rerun]
Hosts discuss MIT research on optimizing wind farm output through software that coordinates turbine yaw to reduce wake interference, yielding a 1.2-3% efficiency gain. They then profile Natal Energy, a startup founded by siblings Gia and…