A wealth of educational and entertaining engineering content is available via the audio medium. Here are 10 of the top podcasts for engineers.
1. You Don’t Look Like an Engineer
You don’t look like an Engineer is a long-running podcast hosted by water engineer Sohan Roopra and Laura Miranda, the 2024 Engineering Associate of the Year, takes a personable approach to things like career progression, self development and leadership.
2. The Engineers Collective
Flood management, climate change, the role of technology in future-proofing cities and towns – these are just some of the topics covered by The Engineers Collective, a civil engineering podcast. It’s not all technical-minded content, though; one episode addresses how to make a difference when tackling mental health and suicide risk in construction.
3. Think Future
Think Future hears from thought leaders in sustainable building and manufacturing, delving into topics such as sustainability in built environments, financing renewables to power the grid, and digitisation’s role in achieving net zero.
Episode 39 features Engineers Australia CEO Romilly Madew AO FTSE HonFIEAust EngExec, who discussed how to address challenges such as managing Australia’s largest ever pipeline of work amid widespread, and keenly felt, skills shortages.
4. Being An Engineer
Being An Engineer is designed to collect industry knowledge and best practices for engineers – but it will also prove insightful for non-engineers, as interviewees reveal the ins and outs of working in their respective discipline. The subject matter is varied: think 3D printing one episode, nuclear submarines the next.
5. Crushing It In Construction
For anyone working or interested in construction or civil engineering, this is the podcast for you. Crushing It In Construction profiles people working specifically within the construction industry who have a story to tell or experiences to share, and aims to be a resource for both businesses and individuals; episodes highlight practical tips and tactics. It’s also an Australian production to boot.
6. Soft Skills Engineering
Soft Skills Engineering is a show for software engineers, but with a twist. It’s also an advice podcast, discussing all the “non-technical stuff that goes into the technical field of software development”. Listeners are able to submit questions, agony aunt-style, which are then discussed on air.
The hosts discuss all the things you might expect to hear on a HR podcast – leadership, hiring and retention, pay and promotions, to name a few – but adapted to a software engineering audience, making it especially worthwhile to anyone in that field.
7. omega tau
With episodes running an hour plus, the omega tau podcast, a German production but also available in English, is a deep dive into the nooks and crannies of science and engineering. Episodes examine subject matter as diverse as direct air capture, solar geoengineering and space exploration. Though it’s 400th and final episode aired in 2023, it’s an archive worth exploring.
8. The Engineering Entrepreneur
Got a big idea for a new innovation? In The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast, hear from engineers, designers and inventors who have successfully crafted a business around their inventions or products, truly embodying the spirit of entrepreneurship.
9. Beers with engineers?
Bert Uschold loves engineering and he loves beer. And there’s nothing he loves more than talking about engineering over a real or virtual beer. Beers with Engineers is an eclectic podcast. Recent episodes covered robots, electronics, sustainability and axe throwing! And beer of course.
10. In Machines We Trust
Lastly, In Machines We Trust interrogates an essential question pondered by many engineers in recent years: How will AI shift our relationship with technology?
Regardless of their field, engineers have a wealth of AI tools at their disposal. In Machines We Trust looks at some of the possibilities and many of the challenges presented by AI, covering everything from surveillance to crafting an effective AI policy, and foregrounds the voices of people making sense of it for everyone else.
Did we miss one of your favourite podcasts? Get in touch with your recommendations or leave them in the comments below.
For more recommendations from create digital, check out our round-ups of top TV shows, must-watch movies and books every engineer should read.
Thanks Lachlan,
As an avid podcast listener, I look forward to listening to your recommendations.
A few podcasts I would recommend as being of interest to curious engineers:
– Brady Heywood Podcast presented by Sean Brady, in which he discusses the forensics of engineering disasters and tragedies, usually (if not always) human factors being a primary cause. I learned a lot in listening to the stories, and Sean has a pleasant voice making it easy to ‘binge listen’.
– 13 Minutes to the Moon by the BBC World Service, gripping stories of NASA’s historic manned space program.
– Rethinking Reality, by the University of Arizona Science Lecture Series 2017 (Astro and Particle Physics, Space, Time, Gravity)
– Interstellar Travel, SETI and the Rarity of Life, University of Arizona 2011