Engineering IRL

Engineering IRL starts from the idea that the methods engineers use to crack problems are worth borrowing well beyond engineering. Andrew Sario hosts, and he numbers each installment as a 'revision' rather than an episode. The show is most useful when it gets concrete. One episode sets out three keys to taking engineering notes: frame, focus and fire. As Sario explains it, framing means building the walls of a sandbox so that whatever gets written inside already fits the problem, which leaves room to play freely within those limits. The rubber duck method gets its own episode, and Sario credits it as the inspiration for his children's book, The Engineer's Duck. His argument is that talking a problem through with something less intelligent than you, instead of something smarter, has real advantages, because the goal is to get your own thinking to connect. He adds that the duck is really a habit, so the physical toy is optional. That episode was also the show's fiftieth. Career questions are another strand. An episode on engineering reputation starts with a run of questions about how you know what you know and what colleagues think of you as an engineer. Sario's advice there is to learn the trends in your industry so you can talk shop with other engineers, and to put your ideas out where they can be challenged instead of quietly assuming you are right. From there the show moves into technology commentary. An AI catch-up goes from ChatGPT to machine vision and mentions DeepMind and AI safety. It also separates self-driving work at companies like Tesla and Waymo from industrial systems, where, Sario says, engineers often run years behind current technology. He gives cybersecurity as an example and points to a shifting conversation about the line between IT and OT. Another episode covers blockchain games in The Sandbox, and its title points to a project called Obsidian Breakers. His verdict is that the barrier to entry is low, but the platform cannot turn a bad game into a good one. An Elon Musk roundup claims Starship is pointy for the meme and nothing else, then closes by urging engineers to set goals the way Musk does. The delivery throughout is conversational and encouraging, and Sario sometimes circles a point before landing it. The Sandbox episode ends on a message that fits the whole show: go make something, then critique it, rather than tearing the idea down before you start.