Close Of Business

Welcome to Episode 13 where we discuss 3D printing and the future impacts it can make on our daily lives. But before we get into that, we give some shootouts to a couple of our new listeners as well have another segment of “Can’t Lose / Must Win”. Luis Rodriguez from the 3D printer manufacturer company Ultimaker is in the studio with us as we dive into 3D printing. We discuss Ultimaker, the technology behind 3D printing,  overview of the 3D printing industry as well as the cost breakdown for different classes of printers. Each of us co-hosts pitch our 3D printing idea to Luis and he in turn ranks our ideas. We wrap up the meat of the episode with a hot debate on whether 3D printing will be a bigger disruptor than the internet as well as! Lastly, we go close out the episode with  our Elon Musk Book Club, where we discuss Chapter 7 titled “All Electric” (written by Ashlee Vance), which goes over the inception and development of Tesla Motors. If you have any comments, you can DM us on Twitter/Instagram (@cobpod

It's Episode 12 and it's also mid-ish summer which means that it's a perfect time to catch up with our Black & Veatch summer interns. But before we get there we start off with Feedback/Updates (F/U) and a summer edition of one of our favorite segments: "Can't Lose / Must Win." In the studio for Episode 12 we have Kristen Jones and Sam Fruth, two Black & Veatch summer interns who talk about their experiences, things that have surprised them and what has been keeping them busy this summer. They're working on a lot of excellent philanthropic ventures this summer as part of the intern program, check them out on LinkedIn and feel free to DM! We close out Episode 12 with Chapter 6 of Elon's Book Club, where we discuss/debate Chapter 6 of the Elon Musk biography (written by Ashlee Vance); it's a monster chapter, but don't worry, we bring you a safe space to get the important takeaways about Elon's trek into making mankind an 'interplanetary species'! If you have any questions or comments, you can

Welcome to Episode 11 where we start off with Feedback/Updates (F/U) about a certain Twitter poll that puts the cherry on top of Ryan's recent win in the Episode 10 debates and some quick Shower Thoughts surrounding our AR/VR ideas. The focus of Episode 11 is the dissection of Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality with our guest co-host, Mr. Daniel Gibson. Dan one of the resident AR/VR specialists within Black & Veatch and we have him on the show for policing the AR/VR fact from fiction and bringing us up to date on how the engineering/construction industry is already rolling out AR/VR for large projects. Dan also introduces us to two new terms: 'MR' and 'XR' and how they're changing the virtual reality discussion/paradigm--take a listen and learn more about these new terms the industry is using! We close out Episode 11 with Chapter 5 of Elon's Book Club, where we discuss/debate Chapter 5 of the Elon Musk biography (written by Ashlee Vance); Elon is hot off selling his first startup and we take you thr

It's Episode 10 and we're feeling good! We've made it to double digits when it comes to episode count and with that comes Feedback/Updates (F/U) and a very regal State of the Union address where we give our listeners a quick glimpse of our journey to the Episode 10 milestone. Our episode today is all about battle (aka debates) in the coliseum (aka our recording studio) that we're calling May Madness. Engineers love to be right and to debate, and we jump right into both in Episode 10.  May Madness puts the co-hosts head-to-head in micro-debates competing to prove why their chosen technology is the most transformative/disruptive and vying to be crowned champion … we may not survive this one ... We wrap up Episode 10 with Chapter 4 of Elon's Book Club, four episodes and running (#grind #humblebrag), where we discuss our takes on Chapter 4 of the Elon Musk biography (written by Ashlee Vance); we discuss Elon's first foray into the startup world, and the importance of things like 24-hour Jack-In-The-Box an

It's Episode 9! We kick it off with Feedback/Updates (F/U) where we bring our listeners' feedback front and center—and all the listeners agree that Aaron has the best radio voice and Kim still can't talk loud enough. Today's episode is focused on autonomous vehicles (AV)—the technology that makes it work, major players, and current versus future capabilities. And as we love to do, this takes us into 'Takes and Debates' (aka T's & D's) about the impacts/disruptions that AV technology represents, everything from the Bill of Rights to organ donors .... we cover it all! We are #blessed to have Frank White III from the KCATA in studio to discuss his (non-transit) background prior to joining the KCATA, why he is passionate about public transport, and what the AV proliferation will mean to the transit sector. Be sure to check out what Frank is up to on his social feeds (Twitter: @FrankWhiteIII or LinkedIn: 'Frank White, III'). Not to brag, but Frank gives all our CoB listeners a 10 second way to save

At the top of Episode 8, we start with a new segment 'Chef's Kitchen' from Ryan (aka The Chef) as well as a tribute to a science idol/galaxy-brain that we said goodbye to in March.  Our topic of discussion for Episode 8 is on the Office versus Field roles for young professionals. We have two interviews from other young professionals for some insight on how they handled that decision and what benefits/challenges they saw. Our first interview is with Stephanie Wunning and Sam Kaiser who are currently in the rotational (office/field) assignment program at Black & Veatch, also known as the EDGE Program. Next, we invite back one of the founding co-hosts of this podcast, Ms. Becca Schmidt, and get caught up on her current role in the field, the office-to-field transition process and her thoughts on what field skills are going to be invaluable to the next generation of engineers. We finish out the episode with another segment of Elon's Book Club, giving our synopsis/takes on Chapter 2, and teaching you w

We kick off Episode 7 with another installment of The Podium (0:47) recounting our favorite Olympic moments from Pyeongchang. Next, we give our breakdown of what the Hyperloop is and the history of Virgin Hyperloop One (7:35). Confused as to what the difference is? Don’t be; take a listen and level up. It's not like you didn't already know, but Black & Veatch is a member of a coalition to study a Missouri Hyperloop from Kansas City to St. Louis. Wanting to get the inside scoop on the Missouri Hyperloop Feasibility Study, we sat down with Drew Thompson, B&V Project Manager for the MO Hyperloop Feasibility Study to discuss how the effort was started, key drivers behind the process and path forward (41:59). We finish out the episode with our first installment of a new segment: Book Club (1:06:29). This week we've read Chapter 1 of Elon Musk's biography and we critique everything from Elon's entrée choices to how he introduces himself to new people. If you have any questions or comments, you can DM

We start off Episode 6 with a new segment: Reality Check (01:40) along with another installment of The Podium where we rank our favorite beverages for those hot summer days (10:20). Then we make our way to Brew Lab in Overland Park (KS), we sit down with Kevin Combs (COO) on his home turf and talk about his entrepreneurial journey (15:10), how Brew Lab was started (20:25), and finishing it out with a quiz on the obscure job titles within the micro-brew industry (1:01:30).   Follow us on Twitter/Instagram (@cobpodcast) or email us at cobpodcast@gmail.com!

Our first episode of 2018: New Hire Survival Guide! We kick off with Holiday Highs (0:54) and New Year's Resolutions (4:30). Then we get into the good stuff: #realworldproblems (10:04), myth-busters (12:56), professional etiquette (17:43), bathroom etiquette lessons learned (25:44), 'just the tip(s)' (30:23), social outlets/etiquette for YPs (42:46) and closing out with The Podium covering our top annoying office quirks (43:53). Equip yourself with these quick tips and keep your early career on the trajectory you want! Follow us on Twitter/Instagram (@cobpodcast) or email us at cobpodcast@gmail.com!

'Tis the season for holiday talk (2:33), Kevin’s rules for holiday parties (3:00) and a holiday-themed installment of The Podium (6:40)! We also get deep into the critical things you should weigh when selecting your next internship (13:15), the unequivocal ‘must haves’ when you complete your internship (23:50) and our 'what not to do’s” applicable to your internship journey (33:30)! Then Kim brings it home with the holiday tech discussion that will prime you for your own holiday parties and impress your boss/nerd friends (38:40). We give you the tech talk ammunition to survive the small-talk gauntlet of the holiday party season!

It is truly an "embarrassment of riches" scenario: We have way too much insider information for those of you on the job hunt to fit into just one episode. So we've got a bonus episode featuring Black & Veatch’s very own John McLaughlin, Recruitment Manager for our Power/Oil & Gas business lines. John gives us some key tips on navigating and preparing for career fairs and interviews, mostly aimed at our internship-seeking audience. But no worries, my older and wiser friends, we are here to entertain you nonetheless with our Overland Park-famous ‘Podium’ segment—airing our career fair and job application process grievances, with a truly cringe-worthy gold medal from Becca! Enjoy! Still love you.

The CoB gang welcomes Brittany McClanahan, recruitment manager for Black & Veatch’s Power and Oil & Gas business lines, as she discusses and gives our listeners straightforward answers and life hacks when it comes to the recruiting and interview process. Brittany also offers some hot tips on what your resume should look like, the type of information to include, what mistakes to avoid, and answers our networking and interview preparation questions. But don’t worry – we aren’t all business of course (hence our name)…so we decided to go head on and have a heated debate over our favorite candy in the newest installment of ‘The Podium’. Love your bones, fam!

Episode 1 of the Close of Business (CoB) Podcast is part one of a three-part series focused on our college listeners. We discuss what “category” we would have won an Oscar in our senior year of college, and what our go to song was when we were handed the aux cord at a party (4:06-7:58). We then answer questions submitted by college listeners and give advice on how to successfully navigate through engineering school (8:08-29:58). We wrap things up with a little quiz for "Old Man" Aaron in our segment Let’s Have Words (29:58-35:22).

Want to know what the Close of Business (CoB) Podcast is all about? Listen to our official trailer.