Shows
Communication Mechanics: A Podcast for EngineersEngineering Safety CommunicationIn this episode, host Dr. Jill Fennell sits down with Mark Ligler, Vice President of Factory Automation Systems in Georgia and member of the Woodruff School Advisory board, to talk about the importance of communicating safety in engineering. Notes and Timestamps: 00:54 Introductions and guest introductions 01: 33 Importance of safety to future engineers 04:32 Helping others communicate safety needs 08:04 Poor safety communication leading to issues 11:15 Building a safety culture 13:55 Effective safety communication 18:30 Leaders and Managers communicating the importance of safety 20:37 Safety communication in high vs low risk fields 22:45 Common mistakes in safety communication 24:46 Common mistakes in safety signage 28:18 Role o...2025-03-2442 minCommunication Mechanics: A Podcast for EngineersCode CommentingIn this episode, host Dr. Jill Fennell sits down with Dr. David Torello, Director of the Clark Scholars Program and the College of Engineering's Dean's Scholars Program in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. The two discuss code commenting, an oft overlooked communication genre in Engineering, and consider best practices and use cases for creating effective code comments. Show Notes and Timestamps: 00:54 - Introducing guest 02:02 - Code Commenting as Communication 03:14 - Purpose of Code Commenting 05:44 - Mapping out Communication for Code Commenting 09:17 - Genre Expectations for Code Commenting 15:33 - Audience needs and Usability o...2025-03-1051 minCommunication Mechanics: A Podcast for EngineersBridging Design and Machining: How to Create Effective Technical DrawingsIn this episode, host Jill Fennell talks to Dr. David Smith, lecturer in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, and Scott Elliot, manager of the Machine Shop at the Montgomery Machining Mall about the importance of creating technical drawings that communicate information effectively between engineers and machinists. Show Notes and Timestamps: 00:54 - Welcome and Introductions 02:56 - Thinking about technical drawing as communication 05:40 - what engineers need to know about the role of the machinist 07:43 - examples of students not knowing the machinist’s needs 11:45 - Importance of anticipating communication needs between engineer and machinist 13:39 - Contracts and...2025-02-2442 minCommunication Mechanics: A Podcast for EngineersTransferring Fundamental Communication Skills to EngineeringIn the first episode of Season Two of Communication Mechanics, Dr. Jill Fennell is joined by Dr. Andy Frazee, Director of Writing and Communication in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech. Lending his expertise in the first year writing sequence of English 1101 and 1102, he offers strategies and connections between required communications courses and technical courses for early career engineering students. Show Notes and Timestamps: Introduction to Topic and Guest: 00:56 Learning transferring skills in English 1101 and 1102: 2:37 Understanding Audience, Purpose, and Genre: 6:08 How Decision and Design courses in ME are similar t...2025-02-1045 minCommunication Mechanics: A Podcast for EngineersCommunication Mechanics Episode 5: Communicating Senior Design Projects - Lessons from Capstone Winners with Mechkiwis, Part 2In Part 2 of the final episode of Season 1 of the podcast, Dr. Jill Fennell speaks to three members of the team that won in the category of Best Mechanical Engineering Project at the Spring 2024 Capstone Engineering Expo, the Mechkiwis. Seniors Isabelle Gustafson, Miguel Daly, and Sana Hafeez share the experience they and their fellow teammates - Claudia Vitale, Lena Moller, and Maxwell Gart - had creating communication materials for their project and designing a successful expo presentation.Shownotes and Timestamps: 01:11 Third category: Innovative nature of the team’s solution 09:38 Fourth category: Presentation energy at the Expo 13:01 Te...2024-11-1130 minCommunication Mechanics: A Podcast for EngineersCommunication Mechanics Episode 5: Communicating Senior Design Projects - Lessons from Capstone Winners with Mechkiwis, Part 1In Part 1 of the final episode of Season 1 of the podcast, Dr. Jill Fennell speaks to three members of the team that won in the category of Best Mechanical Engineering Project at the Spring 2024 Capstone Engineering Expo, the Mechkiwis. Seniors Isabelle Gustafson, Miguel Daly, and Sana Hafeez share the experience they and their fellow teammates - Claudia Vitale, Lena Moller, and Maxwell Gart - had creating communication materials for their project and designing a successful expo presentation. Part 2 will be posted next week on Monday, November 11th.Shownotes and Timestamps 01:08 Episode I...2024-11-0445 minCommunication Mechanics: A Podcast for EngineersCommunication Mechanics Episode 4: Writing Effective Technical Reports - Beyond Chronological NarrativesIn this episode Dr. Jill Fennell speaks with Dr. David MacNair, Director of Laboratory Development at Georgia Tech, about technical reports and the importance of moving beyond chronological narratives in engineering communication. Show Notes and Timestamps: Introduction to topic and guest 00:54 Technical Reports and their role in Engineering 04:28 Communication challenges for novice report writers 05:48 Significance of organization in avoiding pitfalls 07:07 Importance of organization in relation to pre-determined formats 10:34 Why writing chronologically is not the best option 12:47 Impact of poorly written reports on decision making 15:40 Importance of considering specific clients in t...2024-10-2143 minCommunication Mechanics: A Podcast for EngineersCommunication Mechanics Episode 3: Understanding AudiencesIn this episode Dr. Jill Fennell sits down with Dr. David Anderson, Principal Engineer at Exponent, to talk about the importance of understanding audience in Engineering Communications. Show Notes and Timestamps Episode Introduction 00:56 Why engineers should prioritize audience 2:02 How did you realize the importance of understanding audience 03:20 Audience influence on design decisions 05:22 Audience needs - anticipating and addressing 12:32 How can new engineers learn about different workplace roles and expectations 14:32 Sharing Information for specific stakeholders 17:03 Examples of Successes and Challenges in Engineering Communication 22:33 Unique difficulties of engineering communication 29:432024-10-0737 minCommunication Mechanics: A Podcast for EngineersCommunication Mechanics Episode 2: Applying to Graduate SchoolIn this episode, Dr. Jill Fennell has a conversation about applying to graduate school with Dr. Andrei Fedorov, Associate Chair for Graduate Studies at the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. Show Notes and Timestamps: Introduction and Guest Introduction 00:54 Purpose of graduate school application documents 02:03 CRISP acronym for a successful grad school applications 05:42 C -Creative 06:08 R - Research 06:41 I - Integrity 08:25 S - Specific 09:09 P - Powerful 10:47 Documents for Grad School applications 11:45 Prompt based personal statements at the Woodruff School 12:19 Prompt 1: Self description and introductions 13:43 Prompt 2: What sets you apart 17:25 Prompt 3: Why t...2024-09-2339 minCommunication Mechanics: A Podcast for EngineersCommunication Mechanics Episode 1: The Webb Communication Program Goals and TenetsIn this inaugural episode, podcast host Dr. Jill Fennell sits down with Dr. Amit S. Jariwala, Director of Design and Innovation at the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering to discuss the Goals and Tenets of the Webb Communication Program. Show Notes and Timestamps: Introduction, meeting the host and guest: 00:00 Webb Communication Program Goals: 03:45 Program History and Purpose: 06:32 Program structure and scaffolding: 08:28 Program Core Tenets 11:58 Implicit Task 1: Balancing Cognitive Load and Content: 18:34 Implicit Task 2: Determining what counts as information: 21:34 Implicit Task 3: Determining the actionable threshold: 22:38 Implicit Task 4: The Trustworthiness Threshold: 25:49 Implicit Task 5: Understanding Genre: 28:23 Situational Learning: 33:26 ...2024-09-0955 min
Queer VoicesMarch 15th 2023 Queer Voices - Pets in the Park, Book of Mary and "The Bride" (Stages Theater)Send us a textAvenue 360 "Pets in the Park" -- Book of Mary -- Stages Theater " The Bride"We speak with Dr. Charlene Flash, President CEO of Avenue 360 talks about the organization and the upcoming Pets in the Park event. Avenue 360 Health and Wellness, a 501 (c)3 organization, is a Federally Qualified Health Center with seven clinics in the Houston region providing primary, behavioral health, and dental care to medically underserved communities. Previously, the organization was known as Houston Area Community Services (HACS), founded in 1998 to treat those living with AIDS. Several years ago, HACS partnered...2023-03-1658 min