From basement CNC mills and homemade electric motorcycles to solar-powered homes and pedal-powered generators, Erik Islo shares how a kid with Legos and a welder accidentally became an engineer, why he joined Hawk Ridge Systems, his best advice for future engineers, and the gloriously over-engineered coffee mug that runs on power-tool batteries.
Why Engineering? When did you know you wanted to pursue engineering and design?
Like so many others, I fell into engineering by accident. I didn’t know any engineers growing up, but I enjoyed science shows as a kid and I had access to a lot of Legos. I was always drawing up designs in notebooks with ideas inspired by movies and TV shows like the A-Team. When I reached my early teens, I saved up to buy a welder and basic power tools which really expanded my abilities and allowed me to try new things with materials like steel and aluminum. As I exited high school, I realized that I could make this into a career.
Why Hawk Ridge Systems?
I’ve worked at a few machine shops that used the CAMworks software — it’s how I learned the software. Hawk Ridge was the reseller in those cases, and I always received good support when I needed it. I’m a curious person and one day I inquired about what the role of technical support entailed. I wasn’t looking for a job at the time but when a rep from Hawk Ridge reached out to me and told me they were hiring and I should interview, I became more curious. The following interviews only reinforced that Hawk Ridge and I would be a good match.
Advice to people considering engineering as a career?
Technology changes much faster than it did 50 years ago so don’t specialize early on. Instead, work on acquiring knowledge on a wide range of topics. During this time, watch the industry grow and change and then start focusing on a specific sector or field as you find what you’re good at or what you find interesting.
What’s the most fun or quirky project you’ve ever worked on?
I built a pedal powered generator that charges my home battery storage system. It allows me to get some exercise indoors on cold days and generate some free energy at the same time. Instead of counting miles, it tallies the watt hours.
Favorite side or pet project?
I installed solar panels on my house some years ago and recently built a battery storage system that pairs with the panels through some PLC controls. I’ve been on a quest to improve the efficiency of the PLC controlled charging system to maximize the system’s performance. Every few weeks I have a new idea of some new algorithm or routine I can try out and load into the PLC.
Favorite client engagement? Why/What problem did you get to help solve?
My favorite calls are not actually technical support related. It’s perspective clients that are looking to change software or will be buying the software we sell and want to talk to someone who knows all the ins and outs of how it works. It gives me a chance to discuss manufacturing practices in general and confirm that if they get the software and integrate it into their business workflow that they’re set up for success. No one likes to buy software and be confronted with a bunch of surprises as they implement it.
Recent work or side project that shows why you love engineering?
I’ve been helping a friend design and develop a product that they hope to market and sell some day. Usually, my designs are more function over form, and this project is a 50/50 mix which is new to me and has been a lot of fun.
What are you reading/watching/learning/playing currently?
I’m working my way through the works of Stanislaw Lem, the Polish sci-fi author (most famous for “Solaris”). I’ve been rewatching the show ‘The X-files’. It’s such a silly show and it’s fun to see how large cell phones and computers used to be. I have a few gaming systems, but I mainly play old games that have been ported over like Megaman or MarioKart.
What do you want to learn next?
Probably Java, with a focus on android app development. I have a background in C and C++ so it won’t be too much of a stretch, but I’d like to build apps that interact with networked devices for things like home automation and robotics.
Favorite engineering or dad joke or meme?
This is stolen from the movie “the sandlot” but when offered a s’more it’s hard to not respond with “I haven’t had anything yet, so how can I have some more of nothing?”
What’s a recent engineering trend or innovation you’re excited about?
Exoskeletons. They seem like a great solution for preventing injuries while lifting heavy objects or performing repetitive work. They also could be used to regain some abilities when recovering from an injury or for those that have a pre-existing condition that limits their mobility.
Where can people follow you online or see more of your work?
I’ve abandoned all social media platforms but if anyone wants to discuss any of the following, I’m into EVs, renewable energy sources, 3D printing, machining, welding, PLC programming, micro-controller programming, and wood working.
If you could time-travel to any point in engineering history and contribute to a famous project (like the Apollo missions or the invention of the wheel), where would you go and what would you do?
1998. I’d work at Lockheed Martin for a day and remind them that NASA designed the Mars Climate Orbiter to use metric values for its flight path. This would prevent it from crashing into the planet due to Lockheed using imperial units on their portion of the project.
What’s the one engineering problem you’d love to solve, but it feels like it’s still 50 years away from being possible?
Plasma furnaces had a brief moment of popularity and ran literally on trash. I think we’ll see them again in the future to help recycle and recover rare elements needed for new technologies.
What’s the most absurd or hilarious engineering failure you’ve ever witnessed or heard about (without naming names)?
I think my mom gets the credit for witnessing it. And it was my failure. When I was 8 or 9, I tried to build an ion-engine from some bits of sheet metal and a tin can after having learned about them in a (printed) encyclopedia. I knew it needed “high voltage”, so I wired it up with a cut up lamp cord. I was inches away from plugging it in to a 120v outlet when my mom saw what I was doing and slapped the plug out of my hand before I could complete my very dumb mission.
If you could redesign one everyday object to make it ridiculously over-engineered (like a smart toaster with AI), what would it be and what crazy features would you add?
I think I already accomplished this with my battery powered coffee mug. I 3D printed a housing, cut up an insulted coffee mug, and wired in some small heating elements that run off a Bosch power tool battery. It has a microcontroller to set the temperature and monitor the battery charge state. It’s very heavy, but it runs for most of the day, which is why I made it.
