S5E21 Chris Julian | Failing Fast, Learning By Doing, & Curiosity

Chris shares his invaluable insights and experiences from his remarkable 35+ year career in medical device innovation. He discusses how he got into engineering without a formal degree, his early career path working at startups in Silicon Valley, and advice for others looking to get into engineering.

Main Topics:

• How Chris got into engineering through curiosity and building things rather than deciding on it as a career
• His early challenges in math but passion for science and technology
• His first medical device job at a startup building test equipment
• Advice for getting into engineering without a degree by learning on the job.  

About the guest: Chris is an accomplished leader in the field of engineering, boasting a robust background in project management and development within the medical devices sector. His impressive career includes roles at notable companies where he has led teams through complex projects, pushing the boundaries of innovation and efficiency. As someone who's navigated the fast-evolving terrain of medical technologies, Chris brings a treasure trove of insights on career acceleration, leadership, and adapting to the technological shifts in engineering.

Links:
Chris Julian - LinkedIn
Chris’ Websites

About Being An Engineer

The Being An Engineer podcast is a repository for industry knowledge and a tool through which engineers learn about and connect with relevant companies, technologies, people resources, and opportunities. We feature successful mechanical engineers and interview engineers who are passionate about their work and who made a great impact on the engineering community.

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment such as cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us on the web at www.teampipeline.us

Chapters

• 0:00 How Chris got into engineering through curiosity in building things rather than deciding on it as a career
• 2:15 Engineering found Chris rather than him finding engineering; his love of building things and being creative
• 4:06 Chris' early challenges in community college with math but still loving science and technology; taking his first med device job at a startup
• 7:03 The importance of having a team to work with and build products with as an engineer
• 11:35 The increasing importance of multidisciplinary approaches in engineering with more complex systems
• 15:00 Chris' limited electrical skills and admiration for younger engineers' ability to learn new things like programming as needed
• 28:38 An example challenge of developing a miniature scalpel for surgery and lessons learned about tissue interaction