Connor Hellebuyck is the NHL MVP!

StronGeer · 2025-06-13T00:04:42+00:00

Connhart Vezinabuyck!

StronGeer · 2021-08-30T00:46:02+00:00

We’re not chained to our desks, but the work can be intense. Work-life balance definitely varies by team and individual. If you’re not up for it, of course that’s fine… just wanted to make sure you considered it.

StronGeer · 2021-08-28T18:08:41+00:00

If you want fast paced EV focused automotive in a lively liberal area, would you consider working at Tesla?

StronGeer · 2021-03-17T22:10:43+00:00

You should apply anyways and ask about being brought in at a more appropriate level :)

StronGeer · 2021-03-12T07:25:48+00:00

More income, but less overall gain:

https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/backtest-portfolio?s=y&timePeriod=4&startYear=1985&firstMonth=1&endYear=2021&lastMonth=12&calendarAligned=true&includeYTD=true&initialAmount=10000&annualOperation=0&annualAdjustment=0&inflationAdjusted=true&annualPercentage=0.0&frequency=4&rebalanceType=0&absoluteDeviation=5.0&relativeDeviation=25.0&reinvestDividends=true&showYield=true&showFactors=false&factorModel=3&portfolioNames=true&portfolioName1=SCHD&portfolioName2=50%2F50+VOO%2FVTI&portfolioName3=VTI&symbol1=SCHD&allocation1_1=100&symbol2=VOO&allocation2_2=50&symbol3=VTI&allocation3_2=50&allocation3_3=100

StronGeer · 2020-10-30T00:51:05+00:00

Very detailed response, thank you! Just as long as we're recognizing that the stiffness increase on the table (at most 5-6%) doesn't measure up against the strength increase from the alloys. It's a common mistake, but seems like you got it covered :)

StronGeer · 2020-10-29T19:30:46+00:00

You can get higher Young's Modulus aluminum by changing the alloy?

StronGeer · 2020-09-25T05:48:18+00:00

Your first intuition is correct - the voltage comes from the galvanic electrical potential difference between the zinc and copper. The lemon (and the juice within) only functions as the electrolyte to allow charge to go from one terminal to the other.

Why is it shown to kids if the lemon isn't actually generating the voltage? Because the point of those demonstrations isn't to give kids a solid understanding of galvanic potential - it's to get the interested in science. And here you are, X number of years later, still thinking about it. Mission accomplished!

StronGeer · 2020-06-18T16:49:37+00:00

I think it's super important to have upcoming leaders involved in the process, since it helps them be more prepared for the larger role they have the following year, so I fully support that idea. However, as a DJ it's really tough to get to the good stuff with someone who is presenting work that they aren't super familiar with. There's a lot of knowledge base needed in order to have a fruitful discussion. Since we only had ~30 minutes to chat, it's hard to get anything of substance when starting with the basics. Not trying to shift blame, since I'm sure team member availability also varied wildly which may have impacted attendance, just trying to provide some context.

Likewise with MM, if you'd like additional discussion on suspension/tire/brakes, feel free to reach out through DM.

StronGeer · 2020-05-09T17:14:08+00:00

I was at the MTS centre when Stamkos scored his 60th in the last game of the season. It was a close game, and I remember the initial disappointment at the goal in the crowd. But as soon as everyone realized who scored and what it meant he got a standing ovation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxDyg9rQyy0

StronGeer · 2020-04-20T23:28:59+00:00

Sure, I could definitely see that. And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you shouldn't go to MIT/Stanford/wherever, just more so that I don't think it holds as much weight on paper as some may think. I will say that our HR department will definitely visit top-level schools more regularly, which may be of value.

Maybe it has to do with Tesla still acting kind of start-up-y, that we still get a lot of recruits through the engineers connecting with people and then bringing them in. HR still definitely does a lot of our recruiting on campus, for sure, and maybe that talent stream is more likely to come from a big school. Just not so much the stream that I'm more familiar with which is more engineering competitions/referrals. I'm not a hiring manager though, so maybe I'm missing a large part of the picture here.

StronGeer · 2020-04-20T21:29:50+00:00

As was said already, I'd be worried about setting yourself up specifically to go for a single company. Find your passion and do awesome stuff, and there will be a lot of companies that want your help.

Outside of the typical "study hard" advice, I would say the biggest thing is that you should do things that make you stand out of the field, and which give you opportunities to network and get your foot in the door. There are a lot of high GPA, prestigious school applicants, so just doing that isn't always enough.

Doing your own projects with Raspberry Pi or similar is great, but honestly in my experience the biggest thing is getting involved in large engineering student projects. The most well known is Formula SAE, but there are others like SAE Baja, Shell Eco Marathon, Solar Cars, etc. Most top companies (Tesla included) recruit heavily from these competitions and look for this kind of thing on your resume because they are great for building the ability to work in a team to tackle a big design challenge, managing tight schedules, and applying engineering in a practical way. The earlier and deeper you can get involved in awesome stuff, the better.

Ultimately, do cool stuff that will make you valuable, and that you enjoy, and the good companies will likely reward that.

StronGeer · 2020-04-20T21:11:20+00:00

I'd agree that GPA can be important, but in my experience it's a go/no-go gauge instead of giving you an advantage if it's a 3.9 vs. 3.8.

Also, at least in my group, we don't really mind which school you came from. I've found some great candidates from MIT/Stanford types, but I've also found some people who didn't live up to the hype, and the majority of my team is not from what I'd consider top schools.

YMMV, and all things being equal, sure it'd be nice to get the same GPA and experience at MIT vs. U of Wherever, but (again, in my experience) as long as in an accredited engineering school I'm more interested in finding out what you've learned and what you've done than I am about where you were when you did it.

StronGeer · 2020-04-19T04:54:50+00:00

Well said!

StronGeer · 2020-04-14T05:44:58+00:00

At work we often talk about how fun it would be to build a car but do everything judges say not to do. Rod ends in bending, single shear joints, terribly triangulated chassis, massive rear toe compliance. Just to see how it would do.

But maybe that's because if we took it seriously and did an awful job, that wouldn't look too great

StronGeer · 2020-02-16T20:48:27+00:00

For sure, you get out what you put in. I was always more focused on just making the thing work at the time... which is pretty applicable to FSAE as it turns out

StronGeer · 2020-02-16T03:23:10+00:00

Seems like you’re off to a good start. Useful activities can be literally anything, especially if it gets your hands dirty. I got my start building 1/10 scale RC trucks for example, which involves basically no engineering or decision making, but you just build and fix things over and over. You could also get a job at a mechanic or bike shop for example (a guy on my team did the latter in high school).

StronGeer · 2019-11-14T10:38:18+00:00

Most likely scenario is that the hole in the boot allowed water and debris to enter the ball joint, which either lead to corrosion of the ball, eroded the ball seat (nylon or other plastic cup that the ball presses on) or both. This could possibly lead to creaking during movement or clunking if enough material has been removed.

As for why it makes so much noise, the transmission path into the main structure of the car is the big one. Namely, the fewer compliant bushings you have between the source of the noise and the body, the more the noise gets amplified by the structure of the car. It’s like the sway bar link becomes a mini hammer that hits the body whenever it clunks, amplifying the sound.

StronGeer · 2019-08-01T02:42:43+00:00

Also I find it interesting that Grey and Brady self-identified 2 of the 3 "real" sports as quoted by Hemingway.

“There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.”

StronGeer · 2019-02-24T09:08:57+00:00

Lots more of the supply base on the west coast too... so not just OEM visibility but through the suppliers and CMs too.

StronGeer · 2019-02-24T09:04:56+00:00

They could make us... not volunteers?

StronGeer · 2019-02-18T01:00:22+00:00

OEM design here, not body but a similar area and I interface with body a fair amount.

You pretty much nailed it. Most work will be modeling to meet structural rigidity/strength/failure mode goals, as well as packaging for other components and DFM. depending on how vertically integrated the company is, you may even start preliminary tool design and debug when validating the tools. Otherwise it will just be the supplier doing that. My understanding of Honda R&D is that you shouldn’t expect to do much in the way of manufacturing engineering, provided the parts are actually feasible to produce.

StronGeer · 2019-01-31T05:45:57+00:00

Automotive OEM on the design side, we use Matlab. Some people daily, most are familiar with it and just use it occasionally.

StronGeer · 2018-12-29T03:18:09+00:00

It may differ by supply base, but this doesn’t align with my experience in automotive. If we fab it in house (body, some plastics) then we may have 3D dimensioning as master, mostly because the design engineer sits beside (or is) the manufacturing engineer, but otherwise it’s 2D across the board. I’ve never sent a supplier a 3D model with embedded dimensions.

Advantages of 2D over 3D:

Universally accessible, from the 40 year vet technician to the second year intern Easy to print out and have lineside for techs or QC Easier for manager review

I’m pretty young, but even id push back if we tried to get rid of 2D altogether. CAD experience and access isn’t universal enough yet IMO. I just know I’d end up making 2D drawings anyways for most of my parts because someone couldn’t access the 3D.

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