Best Stanford Engineering Podcasts (2024)

1
#81 - What is research and advice to undergraduates 42:33

1h ago42:33

42:33

My thoughts on what research is, what function it serves in society, how it is differentiated from "science," and how undergraduate students can obtain research positions at a university.

1
Russ’s Summer Playlist 0:53

14m ago0:53

0:53

Whether you’re taking a summer road trip, planning a long plane ride, or simply enjoying walks in the warm weather, we want to take a moment to recommend to you a few recent episodes of The Future of Everything to listen to along the way. You’ll find a list of these episodes in the show notes, but as a brief preview we’ve got conversations on robot…

1
How VR could help treat depression with "radical behaviorist" Dr. Kim Bullock 21:36

2h ago21:36

21:36

Today, we're going to talk about virtual reality and how it could be used to treat depression. We're talking with psychiatrist Kim Bullock, the founding director of Stanford's Neurobehavioral Clinic and Virtual Reality & Immersive Technologies (VRIT) program. Dr. Bullock — a physician certified in Neuropsychiatry, Psychiatry, and Lifestyle Medicine…

1
#80 - Why I wrote the book Introduction to Nanoengineering and how to use it - my attempt at narration 14:32

1h ago14:32

14:32

In this video, I give an annotated reading of the introduction to my book, co-authored with Robert Ramji, Introduction to Nanoengineering.

1
#79 - What is an R1 university? Mission, revenue sources, personnel 47:14

30m ago47:14

47:14

Beyond finance, what actually IS a research university? What is its place in society? What is its mission and mandate? Where do you fit in?

1
The future of polymers 30:06

5d ago30:06

30:06

Alberto Salleo is an expert in the long, chain-like molecules known as polymers. The world relies on polymers and the most common are in plastics. Salleo is now working on a new generation of organic polymers made of Earth-abundant materials that could lead to flexible electronics that can biodegrade or be easily recycled. These polymers could be g…

1
#78 - How a University is Financed: Research, Grants, Endowment, Salary, Tuition, Overhead 50:05

1d ago50:05

50:05

This is a talk I felt compelled to give after the grad student / postdoc strike in the University of California in the fall of 2022. There was so much I didn't understand about university finance. In an effort to learn more, I decided to put together this talk and share it as a professional development seminar to PhD students, postdocs, and faculty…

1
#77 - Managing your relationship with your PI / PhD advisor in graduate school 17:51

2d ago17:51

17:51

A few uncategorized tips for working with your PI in grad school.

1
Episode 36: Ari Morcos, DatologyAI: On leveraging data to democratize model training 1:34:19

7d ago1:34:19

1:34:19

Ari Morcos is the CEO of DatologyAI, which makes training deep learning models more performant and efficient by intervening on training data. He was at FAIR and DeepMind before that, where he worked on a variety of topics, including how training data leads to useful representations, lottery ticket hypothesis, and self-supervised learning. His work …

1
Best of: How math makes markets fairer 28:43

8d ago28:43

28:43

We have another best-of episode for you today. This one is a conversation with Irene Lo about the work she’s doing to study and leverage markets for social impact — think markets for public school assignments, or medical school residency matches. Irene reminds us that markets exist to help effectively allocate limited resources, and not all marketp…

1
Electronic skin and the future of wearable technology | Zhenan Bao 23:35

14d ago23:35

23:35

The skin is full of contradictions. It’s soft and sensitive, but also tough and resilient, even self-healing. It’s both the barrier that protects us from infections and our most intimate connection with the outside world. Today’s guest, Zhenan Bao, has spent the last two decades reverse engineering the skin’s many remarkable properties in order to …

1
Lean LaunchPad @Stanford 2024 – 8 Teams In, 8 Companies Out 8:26

11d ago8:26

8:26

We just finished the 14th annual Lean LaunchPad class at Stanford. The class had gotten so popular that in 2021 we started teaching it in both the winter and spring sessions.During the quarter the eight teams spoke to 919 potential customers, beneficiaries and regulators. Most students spent 15-20 hours a week on the class, about double that of a n…

1
The future of exercise 28:09

15d ago28:09

28:09

Jonathan Long is a biochemist who studies the chemicals produced during exercise. In Long’s world, “you always start with molecules,” which offer “clean handles” to understanding complex processes. His lab has identified a chemical produced in the digestive tract during exercise that can make a person stop eating. Long now studies this “gut-brain a…

1
Hacking for Defense @ Stanford 2024 – Lessons Learned Presentations 18:31

18d ago18:31

18:31

We just finished our 9th annual Hacking for Defense class at Stanford.What a year.By Steve Blank

1
Ashlie Marshall: The Importance of Team Culture in Business Goals 46:32

19d ago46:32

46:32

Team culture is the secret sauce that can make or break a business. It's the invisible thread that ties everyone together, influencing business decisions, client relationships, and overall productivity. In this episode, we have the pleasure of picking the brains of Ashlie Marshall. She's currently steering the ship as CFO of Tier Level, a digital m…

1
Best of: The future of proteins 31:17

22d ago31:17

31:17

We’re digging back into our archives with an episode with bioengineer Polly Fordyce. Polly studies the form and function of proteins. She refers to proteins as the “workhorses” that make things in the body happen, and her study of these molecules reveals a greater understanding of human life. We hope you’ll tune in to this conversation again, and e…

1
How a new kind of brain plasticity could help make sense of addiction | Michelle Monje and Rob Malenka 22:54

23d ago22:54

22:54

This week, we're diving into recent research that sheds light on a new form of brain plasticity involving changes in the insulation of nerve fibers — called myelin. It turns out that myelin plasticity is implicated in a number of serious conditions, from epilepsy to drug abuse and addiction. We're excited to bring back two previous guests on the sh…

1
The future of computer-aided education 32:17

29d ago32:17

32:17

Chris Piech is a professor of computer science who studies how computers can help students learn. In comparing human- and computer-aided education, he says humans are great one-on-one, but AI is more consistent at grading and feedback. He and colleagues have created several generative AI grading apps to take advantage of these relative strengths, a…

1
Jim Heininger: The Art of Rebranding 41:56

1M ago41:56

41:56

Branding shapes the perception of your business. By understanding the ins and outs of rebranding, you can successfully tell your company's story to the world in a way that resonates with the right audience. In this exciting episode, we have Jim Heininger, founder of Rebranding Experts, explaining the importance of a well-considered and well-execute…

1
The future of effective communication 30:01

1M ago30:01

30:01

Guest Matt Abrahams is a master communicator who helps others overcome their fear of speaking — before live audiences, in small groups, or even one-on-one. His catchphrase, “Think Fast, Talk smart,” describes a mindset that, he says, is key to speaking well. Thinking fast is the ability to recognize and respond to patterns in order to talk smart — …

1
Our plastic brains: learning, memory and aging with the one and only Carla Shatz (Rerelease) 21:56

1M ago21:56

21:56

-- We're re-releasing our conversation with Carla Shatz, one of our favorites from the archive, which comes up all the time on the show in the context of brain plasticity and aging. Enjoy, and see you next time! -NW -- When we're kids, our brains are amazing at learning. We absorb information from the outside world with ease, and we can adapt to an…

1
Best of: What happens when computers can write like humans 27:14

1M ago27:14

27:14

We’re bringing you a timely best-of episode, given the recent advances in generative AI tools like ChatGPT. A couple years ago we interviewed Jeff Hancock, a Stanford professor of communication whose research explores the psychological and interpersonal processes at play when people communicate with each other and with computers. At the time of thi…

1
Programming Announcement 0:25

2M ago0:25

0:25

Hi everyone — quick programming announcement. As we head into summer, we'll be moving to an every-other-week cadence as we prepare more conversations from the frontiers of neuroscience. I'm very excited about what we're working on for you, so stay tuned! In the meantime, we'd love to hear from you! Email us at neuronspodcast@stanford.edu with your …

1
Gordon Bell R.I.P. 5:07

2M ago5:07

5:07

Gordon Bell passed on this month. I was a latecomer in Gordon Bell’s life. But he made a lasting impact on mine.By Steve Blank

1
Caleb Talley: From Concept to Success with Startup Junkie 41:28

2M ago41:28

41:28

Businesses are the lifeblood of every economy, and behind every successful venture, lies a journey of strategy, resilience, and grit. On today's episode, I'll be sitting down with a guest who knows this path too well, taking us on this journey and revealing the secret blueprint to business success. My guest, Caleb Talley, Executive Director at Star…

1
The future of the universe 30:11

2M ago30:11

30:11

Astrophysicist Risa Wechsler studies the evolution of the universe. She says that our understanding of how the universe formed and how it will change over time is changing as new technologies for seeing and measuring space come online, like a new high-resolution camera that can quickly map the full sky to see everything that moves, or new spectrogr…

1
Neuroscience and AI: What artificial intelligence teaches us about the brain (and vice versa) | Surya Ganguli 27:38

2M ago27:38

27:38

The powerful new generation of AI tools that has come out over the past few years — DALL-E, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and the rest — have blown away our old ideas about what AI can do and raised questions about what it means for computers to start acting... intelligent? This week, we ask what the rise of these systems might teach us about our own bi…

1
Secret History – When Kodak Went to War with Polaroid 19:24

2M ago19:24

19:24

Kodak and Polaroid, the two most famous camera companies of the 20th century, had a great partnership for 20+ years. Then in an inexplicable turnabout Kodak decided to destroy Polaroid’s business. To this day, every story of why Kodak went to war with Polaroid is wrong.The real reason can be found in the highly classified world of overhead reconnai…

1
The Secret History of Polaroid CEO Edwin Land 9:06

2M ago9:06

9:06

The connections between the world of national security and commercial companies still has surprises.By Steve Blank

1
The future of robotics 29:46

2M ago29:46

29:46

Guest Jeannette Bohg is an expert in robotics who says there is a transformation happening in her field brought on by recent advances in large language models. The LLMs have a certain common sense baked in and robots are using it to plan and to reason as never before. But they still lack low-level sensorimotor control — like the fine skill it takes…

1
How we remember, why we forget | Anthony Wagner 29:00

2M ago29:00

29:00

At some point in our lives, we all struggle with memory — learning a new name, remembering that book you were reading just yesterday or that word on the tip of your tongue. So what can neuroscience teach us about why we remember, why we forget, and how we might even improve our memories? To answer this question, I spoke with neuroscientist Anthony …

1
Tristan Gray: How Quality Links Drive SEO Rankings 44:49

2M ago44:49

44:49

Quality links can make a significant difference in your search engine rankings, driving visibility, authority, In this episode, I sit with Tristan Gray, co-founder of NO BS Marketplace, to explore the profound impact of quality links on your SEO efforts. Tristan, alongside his brother, founded NO BS Marketplace to help marketing agencies and teams …

1
Talking with the Engineer About Poetry: L.S. McKee on Creature, Wing, Heart, Machine and a Dept Head PSA 52:16

2M ago52:16

52:16

L.S. McKee joins us in the lab to talk about her new collection of poetry, Creature, Wing, Heart, Machine. Laura and I taught 2.009 together for a few years before she moved down south. Laura was a lecturer in the Writing, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication Program at MIT before moving on to UGA, Athens, where she is Coordinator for Writing A…

1
The future of brain science 34:40

2M ago34:40

34:40

Guest Sergiu Pasca is a physician-scientist who turns skin cells into stem cells and then into brain tissues he calls “organoids” and “assembloids” in order to study psychiatric and neurological illness in a dish instead of in living human beings. With this knowledge, Pasca hopes to develop new treatments for conditions ranging from schizophrenia a…

1
Episode 35: Percy Liang, Stanford: On the paradigm shift and societal effects of foundation models 1:01:55

2M ago1:01:55

1:01:55

Percy Liang is an associate professor of computer science and statistics at Stanford. These days, he’s interested in understanding how foundation models work, how to make them more efficient, modular, and robust, and how they shift the way people interact with AI—although he’s been working on language models for long before foundation models appear…

1
Psychedelics Part 2: How do drugs alter our perceptions? | Boris Heifets 23:36

2M ago23:36

23:36

Today, we're going to talk about how psychedelics alter our perception of reality and what that says about... reality! Welcome to part two of our conversation with Stanford anesthesiologist and psychedelics researcher Boris Heifets! Last time, we talked with Boris about the question of why psychedelics help people with mental health disorders. This…

1
The future of cybersecurity 31:58

2M ago31:58

31:58

With TikTok in the hands of 170 million Americans, cybersecurity expert Amy Zegart says it’s time to talk about consequences. Foreign access to all that data on so many Americans is a national security threat, she asserts. For those as concerned as she, Zegart has good news and bad. The government has gotten better at fighting cyberthreats, but art…

1
Psychedelics, placebo, and anesthetic dreams | Boris Heifets (part 1) 30:27

2M ago30:27

30:27

Psychedelics are a hot topic in psychiatry today. They’re producing dramatic reversals for patients with severe depression, PTSD, and other mental health conditions. But scientists still have fundamental questions about why these drugs are so effective. For example, is the "trip" even necessary? Some think it is not and are working to design drugs …

1
Change Is Coming... 23:26

2M ago23:26

23:26

Let's explore the winds of change and how you, as a marketer, can surf on these waves rather than being swept away. In this episode, I'm going solo, sharing observations on the emerging marketing strategies taking the industry by storm. Expect to hear about the rise of AI, the fading reliance on conventional advertising, and the fresh focus on genu…

51
Best of: Regenerating and rejuvenating human tissues 26:53

3M ago26:53

26:53

A best of episode where Russ interviews one of his bioengineering colleagues, Fan Yang, about some of the fascinating work she’s doing in the realm of tissue engineering. Hear more about the ways her lab is modeling human tissue to help develop a better understanding of how we might effectively replace damaged tissues and alleviate a number of heal…

1
Why our brains are bad at climate change | Nik Sawe 23:42

3M ago23:42

23:42

This week on From Our Neurons to Yours, we're talking about the neuroscience of climate change with neuroeconomist Nik Sawe. If you follow the science or the news, you know how big of a risk climate change is. Storms, coastal flooding, heat waves, extinctions, mass migration — the list goes on. But — as you can probably also appreciate — it’s reall…

51
Best of: How do you build a better robot? By understanding people. 27:09

3M ago27:09

27:09

A best of episode where Russ interviews computer scientist and electrical engineer, Dorsa Sadigh. They had a fantastic conversation about the work she’s doing to train robots to better understand humans, and as she shares, it turns out that one key to this work is better understanding human behavior. If you’re curious about how we’re going to make …

1
Founders Need to Be Ruthless When Chasing Deals 8:44

3M ago8:44

8:44

One of the most exciting things a startup CEO in a business-to-business market can hear from a potential customer is, “We’re excited. When can you come back and show us a prototype?”This can be the beginning of a profitable customer relationship or a disappointing sinkhole of wasted time, money, resources, and a demoralized engineering team.It all …

1
Ashley Stanford: Engineering Word-of-Mouth 31:40

3M ago31:40

31:40

The marketing game is changing, and getting the right influencer or customer to promote your product can make all the difference. In today's episode, I’m joined by Ashley Stanford, marketing and co-founder of Ice Cream Social, as well as the Executive Vice President of Client Strategy at TicketSocket. Ashley’s expertise sheds light on how to turn y…

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