Engineering Curiosity, Integrity, and Arguing - a Career in Aerospace Structures Development

I was asked to give a lunchtime lecture at the University of Utah Engineering School on my experiences at Boeing. I touch on my backyard roller coaster R&D, my technical experiences at Boeing. Then I talk about the occasional conflict between engineering and management when profit might seem to take priority over engineering. I also talk about curiosity and the importance of being able to respectfully argue. I talk about "obliquity" meaning when a company can focus on good engineering before profit, things usually turn out better than if your primary focus was on profit, if it's at the expense of quality.
I made this video, but I was uncomfortable sharing some of the information in it, so I made it private a day later. A few of the stories about Boeing are really hearsay, where I trust co-workers told me the truth about what they saw and heard, but I did not experience it myself. Plus, in some of those instances, I don't have the real details from other opinions. I'll think about it, but perhaps I aired some dirty Boeing laundry, and it seems ungrateful when the information is unsubstantiated. I may redo the presentation with only information from my personal experiences.

[@joell439]

Paul, thank you so much for sharing your stories and experiences at Boeing. It parallels my 34 year structural engineering career at a Boeing Tier 1 component supplier. All of these companies were sure drinking from the same punch bowl. Thanks for the memories 👍😎👍

[@Dimsum256]

Excellent talk. Watch what's happening in a large semi conductor firm and it's eerily similar. Thank you.

[@tonydotnottingham]

Really enjoyable and well presented - thanks for sharing!

[@zakfleming1929]

Amazing talk, thank you for sharing!

[@sisqolap3796]

it is a real pleasure to listen to you