Tech Support

This episode's guest is Declan Goncalves. Declan is the embodiment of having your cake and eating it too. He has worked his way up through the software engineering industry all the way to securing internships at companies like Lyft and Facebook, while at the same time starting Stride: his own software company specialized in medical diagnostics. We talk about all the not-so-glamorous moments that have lead to his current success, and how he balanced that with his startup life, and what those experiences have taught him for the future.

This episode's guest is Victor Reyes, a recent masters student graduate and data scientist. Victor has not only managed to break through into a cutting edge field of research, but also managed to turn his academic pursuits into a career. We talk about what his process going through graduate education was like, how he ended up in data science, and tips for stepping out into the field from scratch.

This episode's guest is Victoria Vandenberg, a product designer and typographer. Victoria has walked many paths in her professional life, from a running her own analog calligraphy business to weaving technology into modern product design at a studio. We talk about how she stumbled across design, her experiences along the spectrum of business sizes, and how she is championing changes in the future of the design process.

This episode's guest is Aditya Sharma, an electrical engineering student here at the University of Waterloo, and also the VP of education at Coffee N Code. He is not only a talented programmer, but a champion for encouraging us to question the nature of our relationship with software and technology. In today's episode we talk about how his value system brought him to the field of engineering, how he began his career in machine learning, and some of the humanitarian issues that have cropped up in the field recently.

This episode's guest is Mackenzie Derival, an entrepreneur and professional designer. Mackenzie has been exploring the interactions between users and technology for as long as I have known him, specializing in product design, with his most recent work leading to an internship at Google. We talk about how he made that journey from an unexpected background, what life at Google was like, and how we can educate prospective designers and non-designers about what design actually is.

This episode's guest Rahul Mehta, a jack of all trades and master of more than you would think. Rahul's background is colorful to say the least; he has dabbled in everything from nanomaterials to consumer product design, all while juggling a lucrative career in music production. His creative pursuits have lead him to work with Noble street studios, and collaborate with artists such as 21 Savage, Killy and Dizzee Rascal to name a few. We talk about his process of navigating a meandering career path, and what kind of cross discipline thinking you can use to bridge the gaps between industries.

This episode's guest is Richard Li, a mechanical engineer and designer, and my long time roommate. Richard's experience solving mechanical engineering problems has spanned from robotics, to cars and even boats, with his most recent work bringing him to his third internship at Tesla. We talk about how to getting a foot in the door of mechanical design experience, what his various internships at Tesla were like, and the direction his career, along with the field of mechanical engineering is heading.

This episode's guest is Shak Lakhani. He is a founder and current CEO of the pharmaceutical tech company Avro Life Science, and long time friend of mine. Himself and his cofounders started their company while in their undergraduate studies here at the university of Waterloo, and they have since gone through Y-Combinator, become Thiel Fellows, and raise a two and a half million dollars of seed funding. We talk about how he took the leap of faith to drop out of school, what it cost him to take that chance, and what the future looks like for prospective founders in todays startup climate.