Show Notes
Chris Svec returns to the show to discuss the messy, non-linear realities of engineering management and onboarding new college graduates. We explore why companies should bother hiring fresh grads in the first place, how to prevent junior developers from going dark when they get stuck, and why admitting ignorance publicly is an absolute workplace superpower. Along the way, we dive into managing genius firmware engineering hires, battling technical debt and software entropy, and why your development team shouldn't communicate solely through pull request comments. Chris Svec is the Director of Embedded Software Engineering at Insulet. If you're looking for an experienced leadership or management thought partner to help scale your development team, Chris Svec offers private coaching and consulting. You can reach him directly at the email given in the show (or hit the contact link and we'll forward your message along). RECOMMENDED BOOKS FOR ENGINEERING MANAGERS & TECH LEADS The Manager's Path by Camille Fournier – A guide for navigating tech leadership and managing engineering teams.
Resilient Management by Lara Hogan – A book dedicated to the human side of engineering management.
SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE & EMBEDDED SYSTEMS RESOURCES A Philosophy of Software Design by John Ousterhout – A high-level philosophical perspective on software engineering and architecture.
The Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas – A classic text on software development best practices.
Joel on Software by Joel Spolsky – Insights on software development methodologies and managing tech teams.
Making Embedded Systems by Elecia White – A comprehensive guide to firmware design patterns and embedded architecture.
Embedded for Everyone by Nathan Jones – A curated repository of accessible embedded system learning resources.
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING GAMES Shenzhen I.O. by Zachtronics – An interactive puzzle game for learning assembly programming.
Typer Shark! Deluxe – A classic game to improve typing speed and precision for developers.
MENTIONS AND EPISODE CONTEXT Embedded.fm blog post: Resilience is a Skill and Embedded Skills Tree
The "Meow Meow Beans" episode from the TV show Community (season 5, episode 8), see a snippet.
All Systems Red by Martha Wells – The sci-fi novel featured in today's closing quote
If you want to dive into Svec's previous appearances on the podcast, be sure to check out: 78: Happy Cows (His very first appearance, discussing empathy in software development)
250: Yolo Snarf (All about version control, gitflow, and D&D)
297: Mice to Do My Bidding (Focusing on attentional focus and workflow psychological tricks)
402: We Are a Lazy Species (Software schedule estimation alongside Philip Johnston)
436: 20 GOTO 10 (Discussing modern kids' programming languages and the longevity of the Joel Test)
Transcript
More from Embedded
David Such joins us to discuss his new book, Embedded AI: Intelligence at the Deep Edge. We explore the boundary between classical signal processing, heuristics, and edge machine learning; IMU processing and sensor fusion; and how to determine what sort of ML fits on your processor. David also shares his experiences writing for No Starch Press and why future robotic architectures need a digital cerebellum for low-level reflexes. David Such is an electrical engineer based in Sydney. He is the director of Reefwing Software. DISCUSSION RESOURCES & LINKS David's Website & Book Resources: Embedded AI: Intelligence at the Deep Edge (No Starch Press, on Amazon)
Adam Smith from UC Santa Cruz joins us to discuss local Small Language Models (SLMs) and building open, autonomous tools. We explore his BayLeaf AI counterplatform, transagency (the "me-and-the-car" concept of human-agent collaboration), context distillation, and running models locally without relying on data-harvesting corporate clouds. Adam also shares practical strategies for working with coding agents, including why plain-text AGENTS.md files outperform model weight fine-tuning for long-term knowledge retention. He also describes how he uses open-source tools like OpenWebUI, OpenCode and OpenChamber to integrate small and local LLM integration into development environments and web chats. Discussion Resources & Links Adam's Projects & Research: BayLeaf AI Counterplatform: Hyper-local, open-source AI infrastructure built for UC Santa Cruz. See also the BayLeaf Getting Started Guide and BayLeaf Blog.
Aaed Musa joins us to talk about building robot dogs, custom actuators, and his YouTube channel. He shares how he moved from 3D-printing servo robots in his parents' garage to designing capstan drives, and how he uses reinforcement learning to train quadrupedal walking gaits. We also talk about his senior design project (CARA 2.0), his Spider-Man web-shooter build, lessons in storytelling and video editing, and why he's starting a company to bring friendly, expressive quadrupeds into the home. Aaed Musa is a mechanical engineering graduate from Purdue University, a hardware creator on YouTube, and co-founder of the robotics startup Mecha. DISCUSSION RESOURCES & LINKS AAED'S CHANNELS & PROJECTS: Aaed Musa on YouTube: Project videos covering quadrupedal robot dogs, Spider-Man web shooters, and custom actuators. Oh, and planetary gears.
Author Susan Lammers joins the show to discuss the 40th anniversary edition of her classic book, Programmers at Work. We discuss what it was like to interview young and pioneering software developers like Toru Iwatani, C. Wayne Ratliff, and Michael Hawley and how the personal computer revolution was built by individuals seeking freedom from corporate mainframes. Susan also shares her experiences as Editor-in-Chief at Microsoft Press, leading Microsoft's early interactive CD-ROM division, founding Headbone Interactive in the 1990s, and why she's bringing retro games like Elroy Goes Bugzerk back to Steam today. SUSAN'S BOOK & WEB RESOURCES: Programmers at Work: 40th Anniversary Edition – Official site featuring updated bios, excerpts, and current career paths of the 19 interviewees
Kevin Santo Cappuccio, founder of Architeuthis Flux, joins the show to discuss creating Jumperless, an open-source breadboard that replaces physical jumper wires with software-controlled analog crossbar switches. We explore the need for 445 RGB LEDs on a breadboard, using MicroPython to create scriptable circuits, some of the lessons that can be implemented with the Jumperless, and how it might be used to create new instruments. Kevin also shares the story behind his upcoming Barnacle Board. DISCUSSION RESOURCES & LINKS Jumperless Project & Hardware Resources: Jumperless Docs and Discord