Selected Essays
I publish occasional long-form essays exploring engineering practice, systems thinking, and professional growth. These essays draw from real-world engineering experience — designing electromechanical systems, debugging complex failures, and mentoring the next generation of engineers.
Much of this writing focuses on engineering judgment: how engineers manage complexity, make decisions under uncertainty, and develop intuition about how real systems behave.
New essays are published occasionally on my Substack.
Published Essays
Functional Success vs Engineering Success
Published: July 22, 2026
A working prototype proves possibility; engineering proves it can be understood, repeated, and trusted.
How Living Documentation Changes Engineering Culture
Published: July 22, 2026
Turning engineering knowledge from individual dependency into shared infrastructure.
How to Build a Living Documentation System
Published: July 22, 2026
How to make engineering knowledge evolve alongside the systems it supports.
Why Every Engineer Should Document Like a Teacher
Published: February 24, 2026
Why clarity is the most underrated engineering discipline.
View all writing on Substack →
Why These Essays Matter
The hardest parts of engineering are often invisible: decisions made under uncertainty, complexity kept under control, and systems that behave differently than assumed. These essays document that thinking — the judgment behind the work shown elsewhere on this site.
Related work
- Scholarship & Speaking — peer-reviewed publications and conference talks: the formal counterpart to these essays.
- Fusion System Blocks — the "living documentation" essays in practice: a tool that keeps system architecture from drifting out of sync.
- SURFER Autonomous Vessel Fleet — "Functional Success vs Engineering Success" as a real project: a prototype process that had to become a fleet process.
Publication Status: Published occasionally | Availability: Substack
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