The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast

Creating Software Products – Jay Gibb – Ep57

Creating Software Products – Jay Gibb – Ep57 Jay Gibb is a software engineer, but he is also an entrepreneur. He has started 2 companies, Arizona Bay and Cloudsponge (links are at the end). Arizona Bay is a consulting firm that builds custom software. Cloudsponge is a digital asset (a product) that makes it easy for people to recommend your website to a friend. The easiest way to explain it is, imagine you just booked a place on Airbnb and want to recommend it to friend (or all your friends). Most websites have a place where you can type in each and every name, but good luck remembering all your friend’s email addresses. Cloudsponge solves this by integrating with your address book and you can simply click next to each name you want to send the Airbnb listing to. Jay and I discuss how each business operates and how he came up with the idea for Cloudsponge. His advice: the best products come from solving your problems first and finding out many other people have the same problem. We also touch on machine learning, which I didn’t know a lot about previously. Cool stuff! You can contact Jay at: Arizonabay.com Cloudsponge.com Jay Gibb LinkedIn

The Patent Process Explained – James Wilson – Ep56

The Patent Process Explained – James Wilson – Ep56 This episode is one that you inventors out there should definitely listen to. Most people know what a patent is but not many understand the process it takes to get one. In this episode I talked with James Wilson from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). James is the Assistant Regional Director of the Elijah J. McCoy Midwest Regional Office in Detroit. We talk about the entire patent process, from idea creation to provisional patent, to non-provisional application and the review process. We uncover all the details inventors want to know, like costs, time frames, and the process. There are some links from the podcast I will add once I get them from James. But those will be for the resources he described including how to get assistance on patent applications. James’ parting advice is that the UPSTO strives to be one of the best government entities and that they are looking to hire more examiners. So if you are a professional with a technical degree, there might be an opportunity for you at the USPTO. You can contact James at: midwestregion@USPTO.gov 313-446-4800   The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com

Innovation Freak Podcast – Nathan Kemmerer – Ep55

Innovation Freak Podcast – Nathan Kemmerer – Ep55 It’s not often the title of my podcast is about another podcast, but that is the case this week. Nathan Kemmerer (also a mechanical engineer like me) runs the Innovation Freak Podcast, which is a podcast that covers new innovation/technology around the world that has a positive impact. Some of his episodes cover topics such as: Trash collection machine in the Baltimore bay Open sourced 3D printed prosthetic hands Airwolf 3D printers Nathan also has some 3D printers of his own that we discuss, including the CR-10 and Tevo Tarantula. You can contact Nathan at: natek@innovationfreak.com http://innovationfreak.com/   The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com

The Dadsak Invention and the Startup Bus – Jeremy Losaw – Ep54

The Dadsak Invention and the Startup Bus – Jeremy Losaw – Ep54 Jeremy is the engineering director for Enventys Partners. He just got back from Startup Bus where his team, Sak Labs placed 2nd in the competition with the Dadsak, the world’s first fully integrated infant carrier and backpack diaper bag. I have worked with Jeremy on quite a few other projects. In this podcast, we talk about the Dadsak invention and the Startup Bus. We cover many topics that will be of interest to inventors, including initial concepts, prototyping, provisional patents, and pitching investors. You can contact Jeremy at: Jeremy.losaw@enventyspartners.com Jeremylosaw.com www.dadsak.com   Other links mentioned: Startup Bus

How Does 3D Scanning Really Work? – Matt Holling – Ep53

How Does 3D Scanning Really Work? – Matt Holling – Ep53 Matt Holling is the engineering manager at Dezignworks. His company specializes in reverse engineering using both laser scanning and bridge CMM. If you don’t know what that is, listen to the podcast, we go over it. Matt and I have done a lot of work together. While there are many ways to reverse engineer a part, laser scanning is becoming one of the most popular ways and I am often having him do this for me. Once I have the model, I can make edits to the model (add holes, threads, mirror the part, etc). One major misconception about 3D scanning is that you simply scan a part and instantly have a usable CAD file. The reality is far from this, as the scanner itself only creates a point cloud file. We go over ALL the steps needed to go from the scan, to an STL file, and finally to a fully defined Solidworks file. His company has created a proprietary Solidworks add in to do this work, and the software is impressive (the software also works on Autodesk products). You can contact Matt at: sales@dezignworks.com website: Dezignworks   The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com

From 3D Printed Dive Masks to Business Development Lead at Formlabs – Ryan Turk – Ep52

From 3D Printed Dive Masks to Business Development Lead at Formlabs – Ryan Turk – Ep52 Ryan Turk and I first met about 3 years ago on Upwork.com. He was looking for an engineer to assist in his new business venture. His idea was to create custom dive masks using 3D scanning and 3D printing. He ended up hiring another engineer, but he did successfully make custom masks. We talk about how he accomplished that, through 3D scanning, using Geomagic software to process the scans, and 3D printing the molds for the masks. Even though he could create the masks, the business opportunity is not quite there now. The costs are too high given the price point he can get for the product. So, for the time being, Ryan has changed paths by taking a job at Formlabs. He is working as the business development lead on mass customization. His new role is the find opportunities in the market to use 3d printing to make end use parts, not just prototypes. You can contact Ryan at turk@formlabs.com   The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com

The Million Dollar Collar Invention – Rob Kessler – Ep51

The Million Dollar Collar Invention – Rob Kessler – Ep51 Five years ago (2013) Rob was getting married in Jamaica. Everything went well except when Rob saw his wedding photos, he was shocked. His shirt collar was a sloppy, droopy mess. He does not like wearing ties, so he started looking for another solution. He searched online but every existing product was a collar stay and that just didn’t work. He set out to make his own solution. His first prototype was made from a cardboard box. He spent years developing the design, especially the material. One major challenge was he needed to find a plastic that could withstand dry cleaning machine temperatures (up to 700F). We discuss his journey. He had a failed Kickstarter, he tried different marketing methods, and we talk about the patent process for him. If you are an inventor, this is an invaluable episode for you to check out, as Rob went through EVERYTHING to get his product to market. You can contact Rob at rob@milliondollarcollar.com Website: https://milliondollarcollar.com/     The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com

Freeeup Your Time – Nathan Hirsch – Ep50

Freeeup Your Time – Nathan Hirsch – Ep50 We have hit 50 episodes of the podcast! Nathan Hirsch is a serial entrepreneur, hiring expert, and the CEO of FreeeUp.com. He has hired hundreds of freelancers to build his companies and has been featured on over 100 business podcasts sharing his knowledge on hiring and entrepreneurship. We talk about entrepreneurship strategies and marketing. Nathan has grown Freeeup.com with hardly any marketing dollars. Instead he has used word of mouth by being a guest on various podcast, including Entrepreneur On Fire. He started Freeeup.com because he saw the importance of outsourcing tasks that are not his main skillset, and instead focusing on what he is best at. I often do this myself, as I outsource podcast editing, website work, and other tasks that are not related to engineering. To contact Nathan: FREEEup.com

Million Dollar Side Hustle with a Full Time Engineering Role – Tony Whatley – Ep49

Million Dollar Side Hustle with a Full Time Engineering Role – Tony Whatley – Ep49 Tony Whatley is a mechanical engineer from Houston, Texas. He is also a serial entrepreneur. Since he was 18 years old, he has worked in the oil and gas industry. He started out as a pipe fitter. He earned his college degree while working full time in the oil and gas industry. Tony has worked his way up into a project management role. But during all of this, he always had a side hustle. His most successful side hustle was a website about cars, specifically GM aftermarket parts. The site had so many visits that it was generating $400,000 a year in recurring revenue. He sold that website in 2006 for over $1 million. Tony gives some great tips about taking your dream and making it a reality. He is moving into consulting to help other people achieve success like him. You can contact Tony at 365driven.com.

All about Drones – Johnny McLendon – Ep48

All about Drones – Johnny McLendon – Ep48 Johnny McLendon is a Photographer and Certified Drone Pilot. He uses a Phantom 4 Pro. He uses his drone for creating maps and videos for large industrial facilities. We discuss the technical aspects of drones. I don’t personally own one, but I have some friends that do, and I have seen them in action. I’m impressed with how stable the video is and how they can float in one place. One interesting fact I didn’t know: Drones needs GPS to maintain location. If GPS is unavailable (like when flying inside), you will need to manually maintain the position. We also tie in 3D printing to the conversation. Johnny can create 3D contour maps from the data the drone collects. This can be used to 3D print a scale model of the land. To contact Johnny: Website: https://johnnymclendon.com Email: info@johnnymclendon.com   The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com