The Aspiring STEM Geek

In this episode I talk with Estevan Ortega, a welder and welding instructor at Santa Fe Community College. We first discuss how Estevan got into welding. Then Estevan explains what welding is, the equipment utilized, the science of welding, different welding processes such as MIG, TIG and STICK, the industries welders can work in, specialized fields such as welding for national labs or underwater...

In this episode I talk with Dr. Jonathan Koomey, the founder of Koomey Analytics and a former researcher & scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The focus of this episode is on data centers. We first start with Jon’s interest in the history of science which he studied at Harvard for his undergraduate. We go over Jon’s PhD thesis on why cost-effective energy efficiency measures ma...

In this episode I am joined by Dr. Emily Howard aNutritional Physiologist at the United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM). The focus of the episode is nutritional physiology, which is the study of how nutrients and diet interact with the body at a cellular and physiological level. We start the conversation discussing how Emily becameinterested in nutritional scienc...

In this episode I am joined by Doctor Natalia Gauer Pasqualon, a volcanologist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The focus of this episode is volcanology, which is the study of volcanoes and geochemical phenomena. We first discuss how Natalia decided to study geology for her undergraduate degree and how Natalia ended up finishing two PhDs in volcanology. Then we get into volcanology. Natalia d...

In this episode I am joined by Eric Larson, a hydrologist who works for the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. The focus of this episode is hydrology, which is a field in science that studies the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth. In the episode we discuss Eric’s love of the outdoors, studying civil engineering for his undergraduate, his current work as a hydrolo...

In this episode I am joined by Dr. Elizabeth Congdon, a Capybara researcher and a Professor at Bethune Cookman University. In the episode we start with Beth’s experience with collecting and analyzing data at the Cleveland Zoo and Beth’s research on primates for her Master’s thesis. Then we get into the main focus of the episode, Capybaras! Beth compares Capybaras to other rodents, reviews the regi...

This episode is all about Chile Peppers! I traveled to southern New Mexico to the Chile Pepper institute at New Mexico State University. I talk with Danise Coon and Dr. Dennis Lozada who are two researchers with the institute. In the episode we discuss the origins of Chile Peppers, the factors that affect Chile pepper production, the Scoville scale to measure the heat of peppers, mechanization of...

In this episode I talk to Dr. Eric Masanet. Eric is the Professor and Mellichamp Chair in Sustainability Science at the University of California Santa Barbara. The core focus of the episode is Data Centers. In the episode we start at a high level where Eric defines what a Data Center is, the stakeholders of a Data Center, GPU vs CPU compute, the lifecycle of chips, the potential energy efficiency...

In this episode I talk with Dr. Leigh Cash. Leigh received her doctorate in public health from Johns Hopkins University and is currently a Research Engineer at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Within the episode we discuss how Leigh became interested in science growing up, studying environmental health for her undergraduate at University of Georgia, a life changing incident at the University that s...

In this episode I talk with Srikar Katta. Srikar is a PhD researcher focused on Computer Science at Duke University. During the discussion we review methods from Causal Inference, a field closely related to statistics, Srikar goes over his papers where he studies data from wearable devices and political polarization using methods from Causal Inference, we discuss how social media affects our perce...

In this episode I talk with Dr. Damian Handzy. In theepisode we talk about physics, finance and how the two disciplines are intertwined. We talk about how Damian became interested in science and math as a child, how he became interested in physics as an undergraduate in University of Pennsylvania, Damian’s PhD thesis in experimental nuclear physics, pivoting from nuclear physics to finance, financ...

In this episode I talk with Anthony Palmiotto of OpenStax. The episode focuses on Open Educational Resources (OER). Open Educational Resources include open-source textbooks that are free to students and instructors. In the episode we talk about how OpenStax develops open-source textbooks, how different universities are utilizing open educational resources, the experts who contribute to open-source...

In this episode we have a repeat guest, Shawn Dutill. Shawn is a Systems Engineer and programmer. In the episode we talk about the latest trends and news in tech including the newly released iPhone Air, digital content consumption, Microsoft ending support for Windows 10, open source versus proprietary technology, data centers, music we are listening to and more. I hope you enjoy! The articles cit...

In this episode I talk to Yaroslav Stanchak. Yaroslav is a mechanical engineer with over 40 years of experience. In the episode we talk about how Yaroslav and his family immigrated to the U.S. after World War 2, how he became interested in science fiction and mechanics as a kid, attending Northeastern University for his mechanical engineering degree, working at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in...

In this episode I talk with Bradley Knutson and BrittanyHuber. Both Bradley and Brittney work in tech; Bradley is a full stack developer and Brittany is a support engineer. In the episode we talk about the coding bootcamp Bradley and Brittany attended, breaking into the tech field,full stack development, debugging complex systems, AI’s potential disruption in the job market, nerd pop culture and w...

In this episode I talk to Carl Denis. Carl is a Cybersecurity Engineer. In the episode we talk about Carl’s experience growing up in Haiti, moving to the United States, joining the US Army, working as a helicopter repairer & crew chief, cloud computing, programming, cybersecurity and music recommendations. I hope you enjoy! Haitian Non-Profit P4H Global: https://p4hglobal.org/ ARTICLES: POWER...

In this episode I talk to Jeffin Johnykutty who is a graduate student studying Computer Science at Temple University. In the episode we talk about Jeffin got into programming, sports analytics, WWE, holding a leadership position at University and an AI paper Jeffin and his colleagues wrote at Temple University. I hope you enjoy! Jeffin’s AI Paper - "All Roads Lead to ChatGPT": How Genera...

In this episode I talk with Shawn Dutill who is a Systems Engineer and a programmer. In the episode we talk about how we navigated community college, how we were introduced to programming, meeting at a computer science club at Temple University, dealing with work stressors, DevOps, virtualization, video games and much more. I hope you enjoy! INTRO/OUTRO SONG: Big Stepper by BigXthaPlug CONNECT: Li...

In this episode I talk with Matthew Taylor. Matt is a portfolio manager with over 20 years of experience in the financial industry. We discuss how Matt became interested in finance & economics, Bell Labs, Matt's time as a consultant in the Utilities industry, investing during the Russian default & Asian currency crisis, private equity, hedge funds, the business of AI and book recommend...

In this episode I talk to Jacob Snarr who is a software engineer. In the episode we talk about learning programming languages at a young age, Jacob’s experience with programming robots, computer science, software engineering, the challenges of remote learning, 3d printing, retro electronics, and as always video games. I hope you enjoy! Little Horse GitHub Repo: https://github.com/littlehorse-enter...

In this video I talk with Nate Wooding who runs the channel,  @themcbobgorge  . We talk about how Nate got into creating YouTube videos,  economics, MrBeast's leaked memo, the YouTube algorithm, hiking, exploring new locations and much more. I hope you enjoy! CONNECT WITH NATE: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themcbobgorge X: https://x.com/barstoolsyria?lang=en Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@b...

In this episode I talk with Ronald Anderson. Ron was the Dean of the Fox School of Business at Temple University, taught finance for over 20 years and worked as an engineer and project manager at a Fortune 500 Company. We discuss a variety of topics including: pursuing a degree in engineering, innovation in the energy industry, the pivot to alternative energy, project management, Ron's research in...

In this episode I talk with Evan McIntyre and Chris Krochak, the founding members of the band Torn Boots. In the episode we talk about the instruments and equipment the band uses, software programs to edit songs and how to prep a venue for a live event, the music writing process and the artists, albums and songs we love. Music videos were spliced in throughout the podcast, we hope you enjoy the di...

In this episode I talk with Ben Kofman, a Offensive Security Engineer. We talk about Ben's introduction to Cybersecurity, offensive vs. defensive cyber, cybersecurity tools every aspiring analyst should know, an exploit Ben found at a tech company and some good EDM artists to study to. Hope you enjoy! CYBERSECURITY READING: Recursive Amplification Attacks: Botnet-as-a-Service (Ben’s Article): http...

In this episode I talk with Taziamoma Abraham, a software engineer and cloud developer at Amazon Web Services (AWS). We talk about how Taz got into tech, AI's disruptive power in industries, Roblox servers with AAA quality games, wild crypto bets, Taz's experience with an unruly professor and cloud services amongst many other topics. Hope you enjoy! FROM THE PODCAST: phpBB Forum: https://www.phpbb...