Best George Gao Podcasts (2024)

1
Soft and Squishy Robots in the Classroom, with Dr. Holly Golecki 48:22

1y ago48:22

48:22

Modern robotics can interact with the human body in newer, innovative ways, using flexible materials and compliant actuators. Dr. Holly Golecki, Ph.D., wants to teach young people all about it, recently sharing her team’s K-12 curriculum in soft robotics in The Science Teachermagazine. A professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, …

1
Engineering Meat Cruelty-Free, with Dr. Katie Kam 28:19

1+ y ago28:19

28:19

Cultivated meat has the potential to disrupt the meat industry, and engineer Dr. Katie Kam joins the podcast to talk about it. Katie founded BioBQ, her startup that’s developing cultivated beef brisket. She explains how cultivated meat – also known as “cultured meat” or “lab meat” – is real meat that avoids animal slaughter by being grown in a bior…

1
Solve Real Problems and Win Real Prizes, with Autumn and George Dowdy and Ann Woo 56:46

2y ago56:46

56:46

The Solve for Tomorrow design competition from Samsung is starting up again, and three guests join the podcast to explain how it works, and why schools and businesses should invest in K-12 STEM education. George Dowdy led his students at Porter High School to win the most recent competition, while Autumn Dowdy led her students at the same school to…

1
Teaching Coding to the Community with a Small Business, with Amy Pirzada 39:26

2+ y ago39:26

39:26

Amy Pirzada started My Coding Place as an educational business focused on teaching coding to kids in Austin. But she soon expanded to teach chess, game design, 3D modeling, 3D printing, and more technical topics in problem-solving to wider audiences. She talks about the mission of her entrepreneurial business, how to teach kids programming effectiv…

1
The Physics Circus Teaches Science, with Joseph Ziegel 29:28

2+ y ago29:28

29:28

The Physics Circus at The University of Texas at Austin tries to attract kids to science using loud and entertaining demonstrations that might not be as accessible to the average school. Led by graduate students doing the latest in physics research, The Physics Circus is getting back into live shows again. Joseph Ziegel is one of the coordinators o…

1
The Science Journal for Kids, with Tanya Dimitrova 48:58

2+ y ago48:58

48:58

Do scientific research articles sometimes sound like another language? To K-12 students, very often it’s yes. Tanya Dimitrova tried to help solve this problem by founding the Scientific Journal for Kids, where her team of writers, designers, and teachers translates articles from scientific research journals into more kid-friendly language. Tanya ta…

1
Design Biomolecular Circuits, with Dr. Xiaojing Gao 27:53

3y ago27:53

27:53

What is synthetic biology? Researcher and professor Dr. Xiaojing Gao introduces this cutting edge field. He explains how his lab at Stanford University engineers biomolecular circuits, which are meant to be programmable, reproducible, and friendlier to mammalian cells than non-biological molecules. Xiaojing hopes to create the building blocks of th…

1
A Video Game for Designing Robots, with Dan White 51:40

3y ago51:40

51:40

Learning in robotics doesn’t have to take weeks, if you can design, build, and test a robot in hours in a video game. Dan White, CEO of Filament Games, introduces RoboCo, their game meant to teach principles of robotics to players, from the mechanical design all the way to testing in the 3D world. Dan discusses cofounding Filament Games with partne…

1
Reach Youth by Listening to Them, with Scott Steward 1:17:31

3y ago1:17:31

1:17:31

Chicago educator and entrepreneur Scott Steward breaks down his teaching philosophy, rooted in getting to know his students. Steward founded Genius Lab in Chicago, where he teaches young people technology, business, and how to become an adult. He honed his curriculum from teaching in Chicago Public Schools classrooms for fifteen years in largely bl…

1
Robotics Competitions after 2021, with Dan Mantz 37:29

3y ago37:29

37:29

The Robotics Education and Competition (REC) Foundation has been running robotics programs for youth for years, including the widespread global competitions sponsored by VEX Robotics. Dan Mantz is the CEO of the REC Foundation, leading this nonprofit through the pandemic, after previously working in industrial engineering and robotics for over twen…

1
Teach Harder Math and Problem-Solving, with Richard Rusczyk 59:35

3+ y ago59:35

59:35

Math is fundamental to engineering education and other disciplines. That’s part of why Richard Rusczyk wants to teach kids harder math than they often see in school. As the CEO of Art of Problem Solving, he wants to challenge more young people mathematically, hopefully giving them an earlier chance to achieve math mastery. He talks about national m…

1
Teach 3D Printing, with David Seto and Michael Welch 49:38

3+ y ago49:38

49:38

Kids can learn CAD for 3D printing, but teaching it doesn’t have to be a hassle. David Seto and Michael Welch wrote a set of books to make teaching and learning the subject easier. They based it on their own experiences with 3D printing, learning it as beginners, coming from finance and mobile games industries, and then teaching CAD for 3D printing…

1
Trans Engineers You Should Know, with Dr. Ada-Rhodes Short 39:09

3+ y ago39:09

39:09

Mechanical engineer Dr. Ada-Rhodes Short studies robot brains, having previously worked in industry and academia for commercial toy companies, NASA, Texas A&M, and more. She also advocates for diversity and inclusion in education and STEM for trans people, including her time founding the Sexual Identity Forum at Baylor University. Dr. Short talks a…

1
Aiming for Equity in K-12 Computer Science, with Rosemary Kamei 35:39

3+ y ago35:39

35:39

The Silicon Valley Education Foundation (SVEF) is a nonprofit running several programs in K-12 STEM education, including its Computer Science Institute for middle and high school teachers. Rosemary Kamei is the Chief Development and Innovation Officer of SVEF, and she talks about why SVEF piloted its CS Institute a few years ago and how it has been…

1
CAD in a Web Browser, with Amanda Hough 34:15

3+ y ago34:15

34:15

The pandemic has spurred teachers like Amanda Hough to teach CAD remotely, but how do you do that if students don’t have the hardware to run resource-heavy CAD software? Amanda uses cloud-based CAD platform OnShape, and her students run it in a web browser, no installs needed. She talks about her experience switching over to OnShape this year, its …

1
Better K-12 Engineering Post-COVID, with Dr. Corey Hall 45:49

3+ y ago45:49

45:49

STEM curriculum specialist Dr. Corey Hall shares tips and resources for teaching engineering effectively at the K-12 level in 2021, both during and beyond COVID. Corey recommends teaching strategies and products based on her 24 years of experience in education, as a school librarian, middle school teacher, professor, and online teacher. She discuss…

1
How to Change the Education System, with Suzanne Demallie 59:35

3+ y ago59:35

59:35

The education system can change top-down, or bottom-up. Author Suzanne DeMallie wrote “Can You Hear Me Now?” – a book about how parents and teachers might change our schools from the bottom-up. She draws on her own experiences in Baltimore County Public Schools as an elementary math teacher from 2011 to 2019, a parent of children in BCPS, and an ad…

1
Legendary LEDs, with Dr. Russ Dupuis 53:10

3+ y ago53:10

53:10

LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, have changed the world – and continue to do so. This energy-efficient electronics technology came from decades of design and discovery in engineering. Dr. Russell Dupuis is one of the engineers behind LEDs, and he recently was one of five winners of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering for his work in this techn…

1
Teaching HTML/CSS, Unplugged and Offline, with Sam Taylor 39:50

3+ y ago39:50

39:50

How do you learn web development without a computer, or without any electronic device? Sam Taylor wrote a book to help learners do just that. As a former middle school teacher and current tech worker, Sam wrote the newly released educational book titled The Coding Workbook, which intends to teach the basics of HTML and CSS, but with no computer req…

1
Aerospace Engineering Entrepreneur, with Mishaal Ashemimry 53:02

4y ago53:02

53:02

Mishaal Ashemimry is an aerospace engineer and pilot who, after working for major aerospace organizations, formed her own aerospace startup to design rockets for small, low-Earth orbit satellites. As a Saudi American, she got interested in the stars when she was young, looking up at the sky while visiting Saudi Arabia. She describes many parts of h…

1
What Do Equations Sound Like on the Piano? 49:29

4y ago49:29

49:29

Let’s make equations musical. Instead of visualizing equations on a graph, let’s listen to them on the piano, merging all our math and music knowledge. You can make two-dimensional x-y math equations audible – or sonify them – by translating the x-values to time and the y-values to the keys of a piano. If you can’t play them on the piano yourself, …

1
Modernizing Army Training in Software and Tech 33:52

4y ago33:52

33:52

Army Futures Command (AFC) is partnering with Austin Community College (ACC) in Texas to create a new Software Factory, which will be a software development training program for Army soldiers. Planned to start in January, it will blend training of both soldiers and civilians in newer tech practices in agile development. Maj. Vito Errico from AFC wi…

1
Episode 32 - Misty Flanagan, Commercial Real Estate Developer and the importance of Mindset 1:35:23

4y ago1:35:23

1:35:23

Today we have Misty Flanagan, co-founder and head of marketing at Elevated Development, a local Houston based residential and commercial development firm. Misty came from a strong corporate background having worked for a Fortune 500 general contractor firm before diving into her real estate career. What I found so fascinating about Misty is not onl…

1
Episode 31 - Grant Burwash, How to empower landlords and tenants with Landlord Credit Bureau 47:16

4y ago47:16

47:16

Today we have Grant Burwash from Landlord Credit Bureau, which is a company based out of Toronto Canada started by a serial tech entrepreneur who was trying to solve his own problems with his rental portfolio to improve property management and rent collection. LCB is a consumer reporting agency when a landlord signs up, they can report all their re…

1
How Is School Reopening Going? 46:32

4y ago46:32

46:32

Schools have reopened in Fall 2020 amid the COVID19 pandemic, and educators are putting in overtime to make it work. Four educators speak about their experiences getting students learning again either online or in person: Superintendent Teddy Clevinger in Bell County, Texas; engineering entrepreneurship teacher Melanie Kong in Seattle, Washington; …

1
Episode 30 - Michael Seago, 25 Years of Investing in Houston 1:07:48

4y ago1:07:48

1:07:48

Today we have Michael Seago, a local investor and broker who has been investing in the great Houston area for more than 25 years. As he mentioned during the introduction, Michael graduated from Texas A&M and got a business degree from Houston Baptist University. He went on to become the CFO for a multimillion dollar company before following his pas…

1
Episode 29 - Evan Trinidad, What's Tourlie? 40:11

4y ago40:11

40:11

Today we have Evan Trinidad, President and co-founder of Tourlie. What’s Tourlie you might ask. Tourlie is a new start-up company that helps busy real estate agents with showings and open houses and also provide extra income other agents who has time and looking to do some side hustles. It’s almost like Uber/Lyft concept but for real estate showing…

1
Episode 28 - Howard Wang, Multifamily Syndication First Deal 225-Units! 1:12:51

4y ago1:12:51

1:12:51

Today we have Howard Wang from Alpha One Capital to share some of his experience in the multifamily real estate syndication world. As you'll hear in our conversation, Howard has a very impressive background. He worked in private equity consulting firm and performed valuation for over $600m of transactions. Then he started his own RE investment care…

1
Listen and Learn: Making an Audio Course in Science for Kids 44:12

4y ago44:12

44:12

How do you make an audio-based course to teach science topics to kids? Podcast creator, teacher, and musician Marshall Escamilla explains. Marshall is a co-creator of the highly rated Tumble Science Podcast for Kids. He drew on his podcasting experience and his years in the classroom to develop a “podcourse” for Himalaya Learning, focused on explor…

1
Episode 27 - Christine Lin, Title Insurance Overview and Costs 54:13

4+ y ago54:13

54:13

Today we have Christine Lin from Fidelity National Title to shed some light on what title companies do during the real estate transactions in Texas and also what to look for in Schedule A through D of the Title commitment documents, and most importantly what are some of the state regulated fees vs. other negotiable fees. She also offered some tips …

1
How Can Model Railroading Teach STEM? 46:31

4+ y ago46:31

46:31

Model railroading is uniquely primed for doing educational outreach today, says Stacey Walthers Naffah, President of Milwaukee-based Walthers. Walthers is a major model railroading company, distributing and manufacturing products for hobbyists around the world. Stacey discusses how the industry has a big opportunity to add to K-12 education, in his…

1
Episode 26 - Sam Yee, Multifamily SBL Lending at CBRE 1:15:37

4+ y ago1:15:37

1:15:37

This was one of the last episodes we recorded before COVID. Sam Yee is a Vice President on the Debt and Structured Finance team at CBRE, focused on small balance apartment lending in Houston and across the US. During his time at the firm, CBRE funded over $2 billion in small multifamily loans and in 2017 became the nation’s top SBL lender. Sam has …

1
Episode 25 - Vivian Khai, 2020 Tax Preparation for Realtors 46:06

4+ y ago46:06

46:06

Vivian Khai is a CPA and has a MBA from University of Houston. She has a very extensive professional background in accounting, project management, and software training on Microsoft Office products for small businesses and accountants. For the last seven and half years, she has been running her own tax preparation firm here in Houston and has a lot…

1
Episode 24 - Huy Nguyen, eXp Realty What To Do As A New Agent 43:19

4+ y ago43:19

43:19

Today’s guest is Huy Nguyen from eXp Realty and one of the longest standing members of the Landlord Association. This conversation was hosted by Jimmy Lam where the three of us shared our experiences from both a part-time and full-time real estate agents’ perspectives. As many of you know, Huy transitioned from a W2 job to being a full-time real es…

1
Episode 23 - Na Guo, COVID update from a Houston RE developer 38:38

4+ y ago38:38

38:38

This is a follow-up interview with our guest from the last episode, Na Guo of River Bridge Investments who develops residential and mixed-use projects here in Houston. She gave us an update on the townhouse projects in Independence Heights and her two new projects in the Medical Center and Conroe. We’ll talk about some of the financing hurdles as w…

1
Episode 22 - Na Guo, Ground-Up Development in Houston 42:08

4+ y ago42:08

42:08

Today we have an interview with Na Guo from River Bridge Investments who specializes in ground-up developments. This was also recorded before COVID. And like what we did with Nikhil on the commercial retail side, hopefully we can bring Na back to give us an update on how the pandemic has affected the real estate business from a developer’s perspect…

1
How Do You Build a Career in EdTech? 1:11:31

4+ y ago1:11:31

1:11:31

These teachers know tech. Steve Dembo and Victoria Thompson teach in K-12 and are also educational technology consultants. Steve is a middle school teacher and founder of the edtech consulting and training company Teach42, based out of Chicago, and Victoria is a math teacher in Washington and consults on edtech products for different large corporat…

1
Episode 21 - Nikhil Shah, Retail Sector COVID Update 33:18

4+ y ago33:18

33:18

Today we have a follow up episode with Nikhil Shah from SGRE Capital, whose business model is purely focused on buy, value-add, and sell commercial retail properties in the Houston and Dallas areas. We brought him back to give us an update on how the retail sector is holding up relative to other real estate asset classes as well as get his future o…

1
Episode 20 - Nikhil Shah from SGRE Capital, how to succeed in commercial retail space 1:06:10

4+ y ago1:06:10

1:06:10

Nikhil Shah is a founder of SGRE Capital, which focuses on the commercial retail space in the greater Dallas and Houston areas. Before SGRE Capital, Nikhil has done more than $1b of transactions at GE Capital and has 6yrs of energy investment experience at Enron. Today, Nikhil and his team focuses on value-added retail and neighborhood shopping mal…

1
Episode 19 - askJimmy (COVID-19 update edition) 47:30

4+ y ago47:30

47:30

Today, Jimmy is going to give us an update on his portfolio as an example and a glimpse of the market conditions. He also mentions how he is dealing with some of the tenants who are struggling to pay rent and how his group is leveraging the SBA loan programs. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/landlord-association-podcast/donations…

1
Green Chemistry Invention in K-12 51:46

4+ y ago51:46

51:46

The nonprofit Beyond Benign specializes in developing and disseminating educational resources in green chemistry – like how to create bioplastics, or thinking about a full product life cycle – and two guests from Beyond Benign joined the podcast to talk about it. Janie Butler is the K-12 Program Manager for the organization, and Eric Nash is a high…

1
Shelter in Place, Go to School 35:46

4+ y ago35:46

35:46

Rachel describes how her small Texas school district can function in the middle of COVID-19. As a school district administrator, she has to organize many major actions in this crisis, ranging from meal distribution to bolstering cybersecurity as teachers transition to online learning. Her team still must wrestle with many new questions as they come…

1
Teach the Geek to Speak 31:47

4+ y ago31:47

31:47

As a biomedical engineer in orthobiologics, Neil Thompson still had to do a lot of public speaking. He was a self-professed awful public speaker, but then he worked hard to improve his skills. Now he wants to teach other STEM professionals the same public speaking strategies he learned, so they can get better like he did. Neil talks about best prac…

1
Episode 18 - Thaison Hua, Importance of Legal Protections 1:34:28

4+ y ago1:34:28

1:34:28

Hello everyone, welcome back to new season of the Landlord Association podcast. Today we episode 18 that has been long overdue. This was a recording from our last meet-up in February with featuring Thaison Hua and a founding member of the Hua Law Group. Thaison is a fantastic young attorney here in Houston that provides legal services on LLC format…

1
Not SXSW Live 32:29

4+ y ago32:29

32:29

The South-by-Southwest education conference for 2020 is cancelled, due to emergency declarations related to COVID-19. Pius and Rachel discuss what happens next, for educators in Texas and across the country.Related to this episode: • How Coronavirus Took Down SXSW: https://www.citylab.com/equity/2020/03/sxsw-cancellation-coronavirus-austin-music-fi…

1
Real-World Learning in 2020 52:13

4+ y ago52:13

52:13

Casey Lamb and Roger Horton work with the nonprofit organization Schools That Can. Schools That Can aims to promote real-world learning in education, with particular experience fostering real-world learning for younger students. This takes many forms, including collaborating with industry, teaching design thinking, and embracing the maker movement.…

1
This Engineer Is Running for Congress 41:57

4+ y ago41:57

41:57

Project manager and software engineer Rick Kennedy is running for US House Representative for District 17 in Texas, in the 2020 Democratic primary. After decades working in tech, and after Trump was elected, Rick decided to run for office to try to solve difficult social problems and help end political divisiveness in the country. He joins the podc…

1
Leveling Up Your Career in Education 18:29

5y ago18:29

18:29

How do you “develop your practice” as a teacher and administrator? Rachel and Pius discuss this question and share their thoughts on going deeper into their careers as educators, all after a dinner of Austin barbecue.Related to this episode: • Slab BBQ: http://realdopebbq.com/• The cover art is a photo of the Slab BBQ wall, showing patches from the…

1
Inventing GPS 32:26

5y ago32:26

32:26

Hugo Fruehauf, one of the co-inventors of GPS, explains the nitty-gritty of what GPS is. He also details his critical engineering work on the GPS subsystem of the atomic clock. Hugo was one of four recipients of the 2019 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, along with Dr. Bradford Parkinson, Professor James Spilker, and Richard Schwartz.Related t…

1
Australian Trends in Engineering Education 55:36

5y ago55:36

55:36

Like much of the world, Australian educators are increasingly embracing STEM education for younger students. Chris Perkins is one such teacher at Keithcot Farm Primary School outside Adelaide, South Australia. He talks about a range of issues on his radar as a STEM teacher, including how he stays up-to-date, Australian inventions, how New South Wal…

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