S7E20 Mahantesh Hiremath | How to Influence Public Policy As An Engineer

Dr. Mahantesh Hiremath has built a rare engineering career at the intersection of deep technical rigor, systems thinking, leadership, and service. Across more than three decades, he has worked in space, energy, transportation, and infrastructure, and is recognized as one of the few engineers to have designed and analyzed complex systems in four very different environments: deep underground, offshore, on-ground, and in space. His academic background includes M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from The Ohio State University, along with a certificate in systems engineering from Stanford University. 

Much of Mahantesh’s industry career has centered on high-consequence engineering, especially in aerospace and structural systems. He held senior roles at organizations including Space Systems Loral and SC Solutions, where his work spanned structural dynamics, verification and validation, mechanical testing, systems engineering, mission assurance, and cross-functional program leadership. Along the way, he developed a reputation for handling technically complex projects where reliability, safety, and execution discipline are non-negotiable. 

He is also widely known for his leadership in the engineering profession. Mahantesh served as the 140th President of ASME for the 2021–2022 term, following earlier service on the Board of Governors and years of volunteer leadership. ASME has noted that he was the first person of Indian and Asian descent nominated for that role, a milestone in the society’s history. During his presidency, he helped shape priorities around strategy, global engagement, and emerging technology areas including space and robotics. 

Beyond industry and professional leadership, Mahantesh has also invested heavily in teaching and mentoring. He serves on the faculty at Santa Clara University, where he teaches topics including dynamics, mechanical vibrations, and systems engineering. His stated focus on helping students not just succeed academically but also find internships and full-time roles speaks to the kind of engineer he is: technically accomplished, yes, but equally committed to building the next generation. 

This conversation is especially relevant for engineers who care about the bigger picture: how deep technical expertise translates into leadership, how systems thinking scales across industries, how policy and engineering influence one another, and how experienced engineers can use their careers to open doors for others. Mahantesh brings a perspective shaped not only by spacecraft, testing, and structural analysis, but also by boardrooms, classrooms, and even Capitol Hill. 

LINKS:

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mahantesh-s-hiremath/

Guest website

Aaron Moncur, host

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Transcript

Mahantesh Hiremath: 0:00

So as I mentioned, you know, I started at the end of the line, so there was always some extra pressure on me to show that, you know, I belong there, and that's why I continued to do not only due diligence, but I went out of my way to do more than what I was asked for, and I think that's really what they noticed. They liked it. They let me know that how much they appreciated that, and that's how those awards kept coming. You. I

Aaron Moncur: 0:48

Hello and welcome to another exciting episode of The being an engineer podcast. Today's guest is Dr mahantesh higher math, a veteran engineer educator and engineering leader whose career spans some of the most demanding environments imaginable, deep underground systems, offshore platforms, on ground infrastructure and Space Systems. He is former vice president at SC solutions, now teaches mechanical and aerospace engineering at Santa Clara University and served as the 100 and 40th president of ASME Mahant. Welcome to the being an engineer podcast.

Mahantesh Hiremath: 1:30

Thank you for having me here. Great to be here.

Aaron Moncur: 1:34

Wonderful, wonderful. Well, we're excited to have you and your enormous background of diverse engineering experience. Can't wait to hear about some of your stories and the insights that you'll be able to share with the engineering community here. So before we do that, we're going to do a quick, quick rapid fire Q and A with you. Just got a couple of questions here. Give whatever answer comes to mind quickly. No need to think long and hard about these ones. So the first one. Are you ready?

Mahantesh Hiremath: 2:05

Yes, sir.

Aaron Moncur: 2:07

Okay, which engineer living or dead do you most admire?

Mahantesh Hiremath: 2:14

Well, I would say Steve Wozniak, because he was the one who sort of helped pioneer the development of Apple computers and really helped Steve Jobs, you know, bring his ideas into fruition.

Aaron Moncur: 2:37

Great answer. He probably does not get enough credit, does he?

Mahantesh Hiremath: 2:40

Oh, he sure doesn't. But he is one of the inductees of the Silicon Valley engineering all of them, and that's how I know him.

Aaron Moncur: 2:51

Well, maybe one day we can have Woz on the show. That would be, what a treat that would

Mahantesh Hiremath: 2:57

Oh, that would be fantastic. Yeah,

Aaron Moncur: 2:59

that would be, yeah. Okay, I'll have to work on that one. All right. Next question, physical notebook or digital notes.

Mahantesh Hiremath: 3:09

Digital notes.

Aaron Moncur: 3:11

Okay, I'm with you. There same constraints or freedom? What leads to better solutions?

Mahantesh Hiremath: 3:19

Constraints? I would say,

Aaron Moncur: 3:21

Okay, and last one, if you weren't an engineer, what would you be doing instead?

Mahantesh Hiremath: 3:27

Well, I would like to be a doctor.

Aaron Moncur: 3:30

Ah, interesting, any particular area of medicine.

Mahantesh Hiremath: 3:33

Oh, my, two of my brothers are cardiologists, so I would have liked to follow them. Yeah,

Aaron Moncur: 3:40

terrific. Well, that's a perfect segue into the next question. Now, as we get into the formal interview here, what made you decide to become an engineer versus a cardiologist?

Mahantesh Hiremath: 3:52

Well, engineering is truly sort of in my DNA, in the sense that my father served as the head of the mechanical engineering department of a state in India. And my brothers also pursued that field. So growing up surrounded by that mindset, you know, so my engineering was, it was not less of a choice, more of a natural calling. And so what was left to me was to only decide which discipline of engineering to follow through.

Aaron Moncur: 4:26

And how did you decide on the discipline?

Mahantesh Hiremath: 4:29

Well, again, you know it was my brothers had taken civil engineering, so I decided to follow through on civil engineering. So I became a civil structural engineer, just like my brothers,

Aaron Moncur: 4:44

it's amazing how much of our lives appear to be defined by our families, right decisions our families, or perhaps close friends, have made that trickle their way into ours.

Mahantesh Hiremath: 4:56

I totally agree. I mean, yes, and especially. Know, in a clothing family like ours, it was a natural choice to make it

Aaron Moncur: 5:06

terrific, all right? Well, you have a very varied background in engineering. I mean everything from deep, underground, offshore, on ground, space environments, right? Infrastructure, what? What are some principles of engineering that have remained constant regardless of the application of engineering.

Mahantesh Hiremath: 5:27

Well, if you see at the core of every environment, whether it is Look you're looking at deep, underground environment or offshore or on ground and in space, it is the engineering mechanics that remains the same, and that engineering mechanics is grounded on the first principles of physics. So mastering those fundamentals really was my anchor, and it allowed me to seamlessly transition between very drastically changing environments and scenarios and continuously grow up while enjoying the thrill of going from one industry to another.

Aaron Moncur: 6:17

How did that work for you? Going from one pretty different industry to another, were those intentional decisions that you made, or did opportunities just kind of fall into your lap and you followed those opportunities?

Mahantesh Hiremath: 6:32

Well, yes, certainly the opportunities came along, but at the same time, it also came down to taking some willingness to take some calculated risks, because whenever I pivoted for a new industry, I essentially went back to the end of the line and trying to prove my credentials to do the job for which I was hired, and that means, you know, I had to prove myself that I would be capable of taking up those responsibilities, but I was very fortunate in the sense that I was able to collaborate with some outstanding mentors And who made that transition, helped me make that transition almost seamlessly. And looking back, I think having that beginner's mindset, it paid me, paid off, in some sense. And you know, I'm happy to report to you that I was I won outstanding service. I wanted every company I worked for

Aaron Moncur: 7:47

amazing. Okay, there are several things I'd love to dig into there. You talked about having mentors that helped you make those transitions successfully. What were some of the things that your mentors did to help you be successful.

Mahantesh Hiremath: 8:02

Yeah, you know, one of the things that you know a mentor can help a mentee is understand what the mentee needs at a particular time. And for me, it was trying to understand what what principles of engineering mechanics are really key for that particular industry, and how I need to adapt to that. So I think that was the key that my mentors helped me understand, and at the same time, they were willing to spend time with me to go that extra distance in order to make me feel that I belong and I can make that transition easily. So I think it helped a lot.

Aaron Moncur: 10:04

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Mahantesh Hiremath: 11:38

As I mentioned, you know, like engineering starts with engineering mechanics and engineering mechanics is rooted in, really the first principles of physics. And so that's when you know the the terminology of first principles of physics is really the key for making So physicists develop all the principles of physics. It is the engineers who use those principles to develop things, build things and make life better for the community at large.

Aaron Moncur: 12:20

So these are things like f equal F equals MA, right? And yes, basic, yeah, thermodynamics,

Mahantesh Hiremath: 12:29

Newton. Newton developed F equal to ma, but we use S equal to ma to develop a lot of other utilities that humanity and community at large can utilize.

Aaron Moncur: 12:44

Yeah, you mentioned that you you were able to be very accomplished in the the different areas in which you worked and even won awards and recognitions at these different organizations and companies. What? What do you think allowed you to climb to that level, I would assume there were plenty of peers who are also considered for these awards, but, but you ended up winning some of them. What? What was it that you did that allowed you to be so successful?

Mahantesh Hiremath: 13:20

So, as I mentioned, you know, I started at the end of the line. So there was always some extra pressure on me to show that, you know, I belong there, and that's why I continue to do not only due diligence, but I I went out of my way to do more than what I was asked for, and my my supervisors, my managers, they noticed that I really cared not only for the assignments that I was getting, but also I was looking for more than more than that, and I was delivering more than that they were asking for. And I think that's really what they noticed. They liked it. They let me know that how much they appreciated that. And that's how those awards kept coming,

Aaron Moncur: 14:16

under promise and over deliver.

Unknown: 14:18

That's right. Well said,

Aaron Moncur: 14:22

Can you think of a time and experience that you had that illustrates that principle of doing more than what was asked of you.

Mahantesh Hiremath: 14:32

Yeah, sure. You know, when I was working in the aerospace industry, we used to take our satellites out to our competitors, Lockheed and Martin neighboring facility for acoustic testing. And when we So, we had to first ship the satellite to their facility, set it up there and in the acoustic chamber, run the test, and then ship it back to our facility. So normally, that whole event would take, you know, anywhere three days, almost, if we were lucky. So on, on one of those days, we shipped the satellite, and then there was some trouble. And, you know in the the facility was not ready, or it was delayed, so I stayed overnight there and continued to work there until the test started. So I worked 36 hours straight without any break until the text was, wow. So that was the and, you know, the satellite came, you know, like 12 hours ahead of the delivery schedule. So, you know, every hour counts in in the satellite delivery. So I. Had the program director was very, very happy that we could bring the satellite ahead of our schedule. And, you know, that was very much appreciated. So this was the kind of thing I thought that this was something that I could do, and if I could do, it's in the benefit of the company, and I ended up doing it.

Aaron Moncur: 16:30

That's amazing, great story. Thank you for sharing that. As we talk about going the extra mile, doing more than in what is expected of you. Does? Does it just come down to spending more time, or is that a myopic way of thinking about under promising and over delivering?

Mahantesh Hiremath: 16:53

I think when it comes to engineering, and especially, you know, engineering like required in space technology. So, you know, when we launch a satellite, we can bring it back to fix it. So we have to get things right first time and every time. So when we are working on something as complex as a, you know, a satellite that weighs 15, 15,000 pounds. Okay, then, you know, we have to do that due diligence, but at the same time the problem that arise, we had to also continuously be problem solving on the go, and that's why it was not just spending time per se, but it was also doing smart work so that you avoid repetitions, you avoid rework, and you continue to stay on cost, you continue to say on schedule and also maintain the cost baseline.

Aaron Moncur: 18:10

Yeah, let's pivot to another role that you had, which is president at ASME, large organization. Hopefully all of our audience is well aware of who ASME is and how they serve the industry. But if not, can you talk a little bit about what is ASME?

Mahantesh Hiremath: 18:30

Yeah,

Aaron Moncur: 18:31

and what, what was your, your role there? How, what did you do during your your time as president?

Mahantesh Hiremath: 18:38

Sure. So ASME, of course, stands for American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and it was the society that was set up back in 1885 so it has a long history. And SMEs, where codes and standards are, you know, world renowned, and they are a stamp of authority that are used worldwide and volunteering for an organization for ASM is caliber teaches you invaluable art of really leading without formal authority, and in doing so, you're forced to make you know you're, in A way, forced to learn the finer art of you know, leadership, cultivating mutual respect, mutual trust, and also teamwork. And SME has some 36 technical divisions where world renowned experts get together to develop, you know, good practices, guidelines for emerging technologies. Then they that those could evolve into ASM is codes and standards. ASME is also an organization that can bring the right stakeholders like the government, industry, academia, National Lab, together to develop good practices, guidelines for Science and Technology Policy. So these are the kind of thing that ASME does, and to get involved into an organization of that caliber gives you an opportunity to not only expand your network, get to know some of the world renowned experts in the process, but also practice your leadership skills in a non threatening environment, and if you do that, then you can always bring back those skill sets to your workplace and become a better leader. So for me, I started as a member of a local section. I became a chair of the local section, then became a district leader, then became a congressional fellow. Followed it up by becoming a member of the Board of Governors. And my last stop was becoming the president of ASME. This was the first time any Asian or Indian has become president of ASME in its 140 years of history. So it was a great journey for me, but it was also it also proved that anybody, if I could do it, anybody could do it. And in a way, I credit SME, that the SME gave me all those opportunities, and I couldn't be more grateful with

Aaron Moncur: 22:37

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Mahantesh Hiremath: 24:05

Yeah. Again, you know, like you may have seen it on the baseball field. Also, there are many talented, you know, individuals, but if you can't produce it at the key moment when you your team needs a base hit or a home run, then it's always, you know so having talent or having intelligence is one thing, but to put it to practice in order to help your organization, help your company, develop products and services that really make a difference. And if, in case of say, ASME, for example, after I became President, we really increased ASME footprint worldwide. And for the first time, ASME largest conference is now being held in the US and also in India now. So as a result of that, many you know participants from Japan, Australia, New Zealand, East Asia, Middle East, Singapore, are able to participate and get their papers published more easily by participating in the same conference in India than coming all the way to the US and not getting those opportunities earlier.

Aaron Moncur: 25:42

What is one of the things that you're most proud of accomplishing during your time as president at ASME.

Mahantesh Hiremath: 25:53

I think the biggest accomplishment would be, I would say, would be increasing ASME footprint worldwide, and as I mentioned just now getting SMEs, the largest conference, moving and holding it overseas has really increased SMEs. You know, SMEs prominence in the area, the Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand area and Middle East. So that has, that has certainly up. The other thing that has also was happened during my tenure was that we establish specialty guru. It's related to space technology and also robotics, and both of them have now evolved into full fledged technical divisions. So now ASME will have its world renowned codes and standards related to robotics and space technology related journals also coming out for those two areas. So I would say those two are probably the biggest contributors during my tenure.

Aaron Moncur: 27:21

Terrific. What is one thing that you would like mechanical engineers to understand about ASME that perhaps they don't know about right now or don't fully appreciate?

Mahantesh Hiremath: 27:35

Yeah, I think that's a very good question, because just today now, today was the first day of, you know, spring quarter, and I was talking to my class, and I was telling them how my career has evolved and how ASME has played a very key role. And I was encouraging the students to join the student section of ASME. And of course, I was more open to the idea that ASME is not the only engineering organization on the campus. They could join IEEE ASC, there are AI double A, there are other organizations, but so long as they participate in one of these societies that will help them grow, that would help them expand their network. When they are looking for, say, students are looking for, always looking for summer internship and all these organization bring speakers on the campuses. When the speakers come, you know, they are normally, you know, very high caliber speakers. They are the decision makers. So students are able to meet them, exchange resumes that you know, and make the first contact with them and to show interest that they would be wanting to work for their company as summer inter so those are the kind of opportunities you get while as you become members of the of the society. The other thing is also, of course, you are able to attend the the the the the seminars that are given by some of the very reputed speakers. So those are the opportunities that students get. And then I also, of course, shared how my own career evolved inside ASME and I, and that can happen to them also, if they start even with the student section, the same progress they can also expect.

Aaron Moncur: 29:57

That's a great point that probably a lot of engineers don't think about much is the the networking and the connections that come as a result of being a member of

Unknown: 30:06

SME.

Mahantesh Hiremath: 30:06

Can you imagine Aaron that for an immigrant like myself, you know, who had no idea, who had not even heard of what ASME is, to find a bearing and then evolve inside the organization? I want to share everything about it with everyone and let them know that, hey, here is a bad career path for you, and you must take advantage of that.

Aaron Moncur: 30:34

Well, I hope that your words today will inspire everyone listening to this to go up check out ASME and consider joining and think about what that can do for for you and your career,

Mahantesh Hiremath: 30:46

I hope, too.

Aaron Moncur: 30:48

All right, well, you you have some experience as a congressional fellow

Mahantesh Hiremath: 30:53

yes

Aaron Moncur: 30:54

or advising the House Committee on Science and space and technology. What? What was that experience like? What did you learn about how engineering expertise. Being an SME in the discipline of engineering affects public policy.

Mahantesh Hiremath: 31:12

Yeah, Aaron, coming from Silicon Valley as a technocrat with passion for current affairs, I truly did not know what to expect when I arrived on the Capitol Hill, but by the end of the year, you know, I returned with a profound respect for both the political leaders as well as the very dedicated staff that works for them. And that's because, you know, we. In Silicon Valley, we are techies. We work with a set of variables and some constraint, and we try to find an optimal solution to an engineering problem. On the other hand, on the Capitol Hill, the leaders are juggling with an overwhelming multitudes of variables and constraints, often striving to make an optimal decision that will offend least number of people. And you know, and I shared this with the Chair of the Committee during my exit interview, and he stood up and shook my hand, and he said, Mahadesh, that's a great line. I'm going to use it everywhere I go. Then that is the hardest optimization in the hardest engineering problem, and we solve more regularly than the engineers do. And he did that was the case. So what? But at the same time, what was most encouraging, I find, is that on both sides of the aisle, they have truly have great respect for the scientists and the technocrats who come and give that depositions, and so they revere them. They respect them. They may disagree with them that that is okay with them because they are doing for the TV, but at the same time, personally, they are very respectful of them. A

Aaron Moncur: 33:23

little bit ago, you used the phrase leading without any real authority. I think that was in the context of ASME being president. There Can you expound about on that a little more? What does that mean, leading without authority?

Mahantesh Hiremath: 33:37

So you know, when you are in a professional place, you have authority over people, and also you you lay out the what is expected of them, and then you know your direct reports are supposed to deliver on that. On the other hand, when you're working for an organization for ASME, we still have some projects and programs that we need to deliver, and we have to deliver it as a team. And because this is a volunteer organization, you can do it only by creating a scenario where you can do do that through respect, trust and teamwork, and that's why I call it as leading without authority. And if you develop those habits in in places like SME, in an organization like ASME, and if you practice those, if you bring that those back to your workplace, you find your work, your work habits have changed completely, and your own colleagues and direct reports have so much more respect for you, just because you Know you are dealing with them on a different level. Now,

Aaron Moncur: 35:09

that's terrific. I love that. It resonates with me a lot. Is there a story that you can share that illustrates this principle of leading without authority, and the impact that can have on people following you and the respect that they have for you and generally collaborating, working with others.

Mahantesh Hiremath: 35:29

Sure. So when I was the chair of the local Santa Clara Valley section, one of the things that I did was arrange for seminars from some, some of the experts in my company. And, you know, I had a I had a few colleagues who were really world renowned experts in their area, in thermal engineering, in orbital dynamics. And they have never been, never been asked to do anything like that, and when I asked, told them that, you know, would you like to be ASM is guest speaker and come and give us a seminar on orbital dynamics, or say, thermal engineering. They were flattered, and they came, and we organized the event. And the last event that we organized was given by, you know, failure associates, if you know the company that did the famous definite gate analysis for NFL. It. Oh, sure. So four of their experts came and gave us a seminar for ASME, and we had 250 people attend that. Wow. Okay, and so it was, you know, like we had 50 people in in attendance, and then 200 people worldwide on on radio conferencing. So it was again, part that whole organ organization of that was done through my team at ASME, and it was all done by teamwork, one of my one of them happened to be my direct reports. And so when we came back after the event, and a few weeks later, we were working on a very tight, you know, deadline, and we were really late on it. We were struggling. We were working late nights trying to finish it, and yet I never lost my cool or didn't show any extra stress, and continue to work through that, and we managed to somehow finish that work on time. I beg that my direct report came to me and told me, You know what I learned a lot from you during this process at SME, you did the same thing with the same calmness, and you came here, and you work through that with the same fluidity, and everything worked really well.

Aaron Moncur: 38:35

So what I'm hearing from you is that compassion and kindness are better motivators for performance than fear.

Mahantesh Hiremath: 38:42

Oh, yeah, you can't make people work by fear, you know, yeah, that's the worst thing you can do. Everybody has talent and everybody has, you know, take, everybody takes pride in their work, and the only way you can bring their best out of them is to give. Is to make them feel great about what they do, and I think that's what I have done whenever I had the opportunity to lead teams. Is

Aaron Moncur: 39:15

there a practical what's the word? I'm looking for a tactic sounds too sterile somehow, but a practical tool or strategy that you've used to circumvent fear and use, like you said, help people feel good about what they're doing, to bolster performance.

Mahantesh Hiremath: 39:40

I think one thing you do as a leader is there is always pressure coming from the top. As a leader, you have to be able to absorb that and only pass through what your team can handle, and at the same time, your team is going to tell you how much they can do under the under the resources that are available under the time frame that they are being given. You have to have the courage to go back to the leadership to tell what can be delivered realistically whether the leadership would like it or not, and do it in a way that the leadership will appreciate. You know, the forthrightness then the the right decisions come about by doing this. But as a leader, you have to be able to protect your team, and as a leader, you have to be also able to be very candid with your with your superiors.

Aaron Moncur: 40:54

That's a great principle being the buffer in between, yeah, your leadership and those working underneath you,

Mahantesh Hiremath: 41:02

I think you earn a lot of respect by doing that. People. People see it actually that you are under a lot of Durance, but you are not passing it on to them.

Aaron Moncur: 41:15

For some reason, because of my engineer brain, the the mental picture I have of this principle is the leader is a spring,

Mahantesh Hiremath: 41:23

yeah,

Aaron Moncur: 41:24

in between the top. And you know those working under you, and you might get compressed six inches by the top pressure, but maybe you only let two inches out on the bottom. You've got that that spring buffer in there to compress and contract as needed, so

Mahantesh Hiremath: 41:37

long as you don't crack that is okay.

Aaron Moncur: 41:42

Springs have a tremendous cycle time in their lives. It, yeah, right. Okay, going back to your time at Capitol Hill, yes, for engineers who might be listening to this thinking, I'd love to influence public policy somehow,

Mahantesh Hiremath: 41:58

what's, what's the path into doing that? Yeah, I think that's a great question. And you know, I especially you know where, where I am in Silicon Valley, where there's lot of innovation coming around all the time. If people from Silicon Valley say, take more interest, join societies like IEEE and double a SME. Then all of these societies, they send congressional fellows to work on the Capitol Hill. So that's certainly one of the options that you can get, and get an opportunity to go and work on the Capitol Hill and actually participate in the writing legislation related to Science and Technology Policy, and what a great feeling it is actually to participate in that whole process. It's a great feeling. The second thing is, all of these societies also have technical committees that develop good practices guidelines, and those guidelines could come about. As you know, technical guidelines for the for the community at large to use before any standards come up. So that is also another area where people can participate and certainly make their their viewpoints known. So I think those are the two places where certainly you know you can make a difference.

Aaron Moncur: 43:48

Great advice, great practical tips. What are you most interested in these days you've done a lot in your career. What? What still excites you about the discipline of engineering?

Mahantesh Hiremath: 44:05

So you know, I feel I'm on the last lap of my engineering career. And if that's the case, then I always tell that my motto is, aspire, to inspire before you expire. So my motto is, really

Aaron Moncur: 44:26

you've got these great sayings.

Mahantesh Hiremath: 44:28

So the motto, really is to inspire every young mind to work in space technology and space exploration. I think the coming decade is going to be very, very exciting. We are. We are going to go back to moon very soon. Already, you know, Artemis tool is getting ready to go around the moon and come back. So there is going to be a habitat on Moon and Mars in the next in the coming decade. And very, very exciting things are going to happen. So I'm telling my students that, please, you know, take advantage of all of that and be part of that. And when it comes to setting up habitat, it's not just that the engineers are required. The habitat requires everybody what we do on the planet Earth needs to be done now on more than Mars. So geologists, scientists, everybody is required to be part of that whole development. And that's why I think it's going to be is going to take a village to really build that habitat?

Aaron Moncur: 45:49

Yeah, right, what what has been? I've got just a couple more questions for you, then we'll wrap things up here. But second to the last question is, what has been one of the best decisions that you have made for your career, and then on the opposite side, what has been one of the maybe worst or best learning experience decisions that you've made for your career?

Mahantesh Hiremath: 46:20

Yeah, I think one of the best decisions that I made was, I would say, you know, interesting you you say that one of the best decisions is to treat everyone equally and everyone equally well. I had a summer intern working for me while I was working on the high rise building seismic analysis of high rise buildings I was doing, and he graduated from Stanford and then joined the space company in Palo Alto, and during the he joined us sometime in September, and it was about that time that my company was also going through some, you know, some low times. So I was looking around for for a job. So I sent my resume to this intern who had worked for me. That interned intern gave that resume to the high to his manager. Now the manager called me just because that intern had given the resume and I thought I did reasonably well in the telephone interview. Then I didn't hear from the manager. A week went by, and every time the following week I was getting his voice made. Finally, when I got him online, he said, Yeah, I remember you, but don't call here. We don't work with concrete and steel. And I thought that was the end of my aerospace career, so. But you know, the gentleman was so nice that Herman, you would be surprised. Following week, he called me back again, and he said, You know what, I was very rude to you. Maybe you can do a few things for us. Why don't you come in for a personal interview? And I went in, and at the end of the day, I had the offered letter. And so started my career in, you know, in space technology and and I be, I became a lifelong follower of space technology forever. So

Aaron Moncur: 48:54

amazing,

Mahantesh Hiremath: 48:55

if, if any best decision I made was to treat my internal well during the time we spent with me.

Aaron Moncur: 49:05

Yeah, that's wonderful. That's wonderful. Anything come to mind, and if not, that's fine, too. About one of the worst decisions you've made for your career,

Mahantesh Hiremath: 49:15

I think one of the worst decisions I made was probably, you know, I was worth working for natsub Drummond at one time, I had a very, very good job. They liked me and all of that. And then I decided to quit and go back to space systems rural. I think, I think I disappointed a lot of people that at my workplace, so I feel bad about that.

Aaron Moncur: 49:52

Well, in the grand scheme of things, if that's one of the worst decisions, disappointing a few people at an old company, I guess that's not the the end of the world,

Mahantesh Hiremath: 50:01

yeah. But you know, my space was my my heart, so I decided to go active. Yeah, so

Aaron Moncur: 50:09

no one can fault you for that, following your passion. Okay, well, let's see mahantish, last question for you, and really, really, this is a question for our audience. Yes, it starts with you. Yeah, you've been very generous, sharing your experiences and your insights, and we've all been richly fed by that. So thank you very much. I I love being able to make connections between different engineers, right, and bringing value helping other people. And so a question I've been asking at the ends of these interviews, which which has gone really well, actually, so I want to keep doing this is what's something that you're trying to learn, or a person that you're trying to meet, or something that you're looking for help with, that perhaps one of the listeners of this episode might be able to help you with?

Mahantesh Hiremath: 51:04

Yeah, I know if anybody has, you know, any unique ideas that they want to share with the senior class, then they are most welcome to get in touch with me, and I would be happy to arrange a talk with the senior class at Santa Clara University, that would be one thing. If anybody has some something that they would they want to for engineering to do for betterment of humanity. Then ASME found. Innovation is the best place to donate anything in terms of monetary donation, that's an that's what have that if that's what something somebody is looking for,

Aaron Moncur: 51:58

terrific, and for any of the audience members out there who are listening and are perhaps interested in taking you up on your offer to to speak to the next generation of engineers, and probably somewhere near Santa Clara University, or contributing to ASME. How can they get in touch with you? I

Mahantesh Hiremath: 52:16

think the best place to get in touch with me is on the LinkedIn profile. My information is there so they can find my both email as well as my phone number.

Aaron Moncur: 52:31

Terrific. Okay, well, mohantysh, thank you again, so much for being a guest on the show today and sharing all of your wisdom and experience with us. Is there anything else that you'd like to discuss or cover before we finish up this episode?

Mahantesh Hiremath: 52:45

So again, I know I am very appreciative of this opportunity, and I commend you for doing this and continuing to do this and bringing you know professionals and helping your audience, you know, learn from these things, and hopefully the young, young audience is learning from all of this and make some good career choices.

Aaron Moncur: 53:17

I hope so that is the goal. Yeah, all right. Well, thank you again. So much.

Mahantesh Hiremath: 53:23

Thank you, and let me know if I could be of any help I know, more than happy to get you some guest speakers or something if you need, let me know.

Aaron Moncur: 53:32

All right, well, maybe we'll have a offline conversation about that. Sure. I'm Aaron Moncur, founder of pipeline design and engineering. If you liked what you heard today. Please share the episode to learn how your team can leverage our team's expertise developing advanced manufacturing processes, automated machines and custom fixtures, complemented with product design and R and D services. Visit us at Team pipeline.us. To join a vibrant community of engineers online. Visit the wave dot engineer, thank you for listening. Being an engineer has more than 300 episodes, and you don't have to listen to them in order. If you're dealing with a specific challenge right now, there's a good chance we've already interviewed an engineer who's been through it. You can jump around, search by topic and listen to what's most relevant to you. See you on the next episode, you.