The Engineering Passion Express – Details, episodes & analysis

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In this episode of The Engineering Passion Express, we take you on a journey from a time when no two bowling lanes played the same due to hand cleaning and oiling inconsistencies, to an era where precise patterns could be put down using machinery, and those patterns would determine how the game should be played on a given night. It's a study in picking the right problems to solve and finding a life's work where no one else may be looking.

This episode is about the invention of the lane oil machine for bowling alleys. If you are a bowler, you are likely equipped to understand all the topics in this episode, if not, you don't necessarily need bowling knowledge as the key items you may not understand are explained. If you have no clue what bowling even is, as a passionate bowler myself, I would encourage you to learn more about the game!

For this episode, I'm speaking to Don Agent, long-time employee of Kegel, the leading lane oil machine manufacturer in the world. He shares his insights of working with Kegel's founder John Davis, as they traveled the world, showing bowling proprietors how to improve the sport through use of specialized equipment and the creation of standards. 

Show Notes

• Here is a link to Kegel - https://www.kegel.net/
• Here is an example of a lane oil pattern
• Here is what a modern lane oil machine looks like.
• Here is an article about lane topography
• Here is a quick video demonstration of topographical effects on a bowlers shot
• You can find a picture of the initial product, "The Key", here. Scroll down to the bottom under the year 1981.

The Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering.

If you are a conference organizer and are looking for an engineering or scientific speaker to inspire or educate in a keynote presentation, please reach out to me on LinkedIn. You can find my profile below.

Thanks for listening,
Brandon Donnelly
Please connect with me on linkedin @ linkedin.com/in/brandondonnelly

Send us a text

In this episode of The Engineering Passion Express, we take you on a journey from a time when there were no reliable weather forecasts. Ships, planes and even family vacations were ruined by the lack of understanding how weather systems form and evolve.

This story is told through the lens of Lewis Fry Richardson, one of the academic pioneers who worked on the mathematical foundations of weather prediction. He is a good foil to John Davis from episode 1 who invented the lane machine!

Join me and learn where Lewis Fry Richardson failed, and how he had come up with a fantastical factory concept for predicting the weather at a time when the idea of the modern computer hadn't yet been invented!

In this episode you'll get insight on how our values, and identities shape the kinds of problems we solve. 

Show Notes and Links

Send us a text

The Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering. 

It is my hope, that this grows into a powerful community where people share knowledge, or their passions and find happiness in their pursuits of making things better by thinking like an engineer. 

The Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering.

If you are a conference organizer and are looking for an engineering or scientific speaker to inspire or educate in a keynote presentation, please reach out to me on LinkedIn. You can find my profile below.

Thanks for listening,
Brandon Donnelly
Please connect with me on linkedin @ linkedin.com/in/brandondonnelly

Send us a text

In this episode of The Engineering Passion Express, we take you on a journey from having all the right technical skills to do a project, to being the person who has to manage a combination of similarly talented people for a larger scale project. 

This story is told through the lens of Daniel Burnham, Architect and one of the first urban planners! Daniel didn't set out to build the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, but when it was offered to him in recognition of his skill, he accepted the challenge.

Join me and learn where Daniel Burnham and the fair struggled, how he overcame hurdles, many of which were personal and how the fair would impact the world in decades to follow!


Show Notes and Links

If after listening to the episode, you want to learn a bit more about the details of the fair, a great book is "The Devil in The White City" by EriK Larson. Here is a link to it - https://amzn.to/42rF8sc 

Note: Devil in the White City is two books in one. It's about the fair, but also about a serial killer lurking at the same time. They are separated by chapters, and I found the engineering and architecture chapters far more engaging, so if you don't like horror stories, you can skip the H.H. Holmes chapters.

Send us a text

The Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering. 

It is my hope, that this grows into a powerful community where people share knowledge, or their passions and find happiness in their pursuits of making things better by thinking like an engineer. 

The Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering. 

It is my hope, that this grows into a powerful community where people share knowledge, or their passions and find happiness in their pursuits of making things better by thinking like an engineer. 

Thanks for listening,
Brandon Donnelly
Please connect with me on linkedin @ linkedin.com/in/brandondonnelly

The Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering.

If you are a conference organizer and are looking for an engineering or scientific speaker to inspire or educate in a keynote presentation, please reach out to me on LinkedIn. You can find my profile below.

Thanks for listening,
Brandon Donnelly
Please connect with me on linkedin @ linkedin.com/in/brandondonnelly

Send us a text

In this episode of The Engineering Passion Express, we take you on a journey from working on projects that have utility, or known value, to the more abstract world of art.  

This story is told through the lens of Gustave Eiffel, French Engineer and bridge builder! You know his tower, but this story is an imaginative telling of how he went from someone focused on practical structures like railway bridges, to building icons, much of his inspiration stemming from a project he was selected to work on previously! It uses some historical information from the small amounts available about the personal life of Eiffel, along with a little bit of fantasy to fill in the gaps. 

Join me and learn how someone like Eiffel, a man of calculation and precision, could change his personality and risk it all on a gamble!

If you find yourself a bit reserved in your risk-taking, but you know you want to create something great, this is an episode for you. Let's take that journey together. Climb aboard now and listen!

The Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering.

If you are a conference organizer and are looking for an engineering or scientific speaker to inspire or educate in a keynote presentation, please reach out to me on LinkedIn. You can find my profile below.

Thanks for listening,
Brandon Donnelly
Please connect with me on linkedin @ linkedin.com/in/brandondonnelly

Send us a text

In this episode of The Engineering Passion Express, we take you on a journey from being the person who knows the physics, to understanding how a system will be fabricated.

This is not a narrative episode, rather it is an interview based episode with Lance Thrailkill, owner of All Metals Fabricating. Lance is a nice guy and great person to work with. You can check them out at https://www.ametals.com

Join me and learn how an engineer can increase their value by understanding design for manufacturing. Lance also left behind some valuable pieces of information. Here are his notes:

Manufacturing Tips for Sheet Metal

https://www.ametals.com/post/design-for-manufacturing-5-tips-for-sheet-metal-bending

Optimizing for Installation

https://www.ametals.com/post/dfm-tips-to-optimize-your-part-design-for-hardware-installation

Choosing the correct steel

https://www.ametals.com/post/how-to-choose-the-right-steel-type-for-sheet-metal-fabrication

Considerations for Punched Parts

https://www.ametals.com/post/five-dfm-tips-for-punch-press-operations-in-precision-fabrication

Welding Design Tips

https://www.ametals.com/post/7-dfm-tips-for-faster-better-and-higher-quality-welding

Precision Machining

https://www.ametals.com/post/7-dfm-tips-for-your-next-precision-machining-project

Surface Finish Considerations

https://www.ametals.com/post/your-guide-to-perfect-surface-finishes-how-all-metals-fabricating-matches-you-to-the-ideal-option

Thanks for listening,
Brandon Donnelly
Please connect with me on linkedin @ linkedin.com/in/brandondonnelly

The Engineering Passion Express is about growing knowledge and the passion for engineering.

If you are a conference organizer and are looking for an engineering or scientific speaker to inspire or educate in a keynote presentation, please reach out to me on LinkedIn. You can find my profile below.

Thanks for listening,
Brandon Donnelly
Please connect with me on linkedin @ linkedin.com/in/brandondonnelly