S5E10 Derek Pietz | Industrial Automation, Losing A Million Dollars, & Successful Startups
S5E10 Derek Pietz | Industrial Automation, Losing A Million Dollars, & Successful Startups  
Podcast: Being an Engineer
Published On: Fri Mar 08 2024
Description: Send us Fan MailDerek Pietz shares his journey from engineering student to co-founding a successful automation startup and his current role leading engineering teams at Intuitive. He discusses the challenges of starting a company, lessons learned, and trends in the automation industry.Main Topics:Engineering career pathFounding and growing a startupChallenges and pivotsPrioritizing work/life balanceDesigning robotic surgery equipmentImproving team moraleCommunication best practicesFuture of AI and vision systems in automationAbout the guest: Our guest today is Derek Pietz, the Director of Automation Equipment and Test Engineering at Intuitive, a trailblazing company at the forefront of robotic-assisted surgery. Prior to his role at Intuitive, Derek has been a part of four start-up ventures including one as a co-founder. He has built and led engineering and operations teams, designed machines, run a P/L, pitched investors, obsessed over supply chain, developed sales strategies, taught robots to make pizza and fixed customer problems.Links:Derek Pietz - LinkedInIntuitive website  Subscribe to the show to get notified so you don't miss new episodes every Friday.The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment like cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us at www.teampipeline.usWatch the show on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@TeamPipelineus