MEL #066 | From Materials Research to Startup Leadership through Adaptability and Intentional Structure with Dr. Brian Iezzi

Iezzi (00:00)
I would strongly recommend if you can find projects where like they’re outside of your curriculum, that’s something where I gained a lot of I think my leadership teamworking abilities. When I’m reviewing like resumes whether it’s an internship or like a full time position for our hiring process, that is oftentimes like what I’m asking about students who A, have sought those types of experiences out, but then also like can talk about like how they’ve worked on teams as well.

Angelique Adams (00:56)
In this episode, I speak with Dr. Brian Iezzi founder and CEO of Fibarcode, a company that provides permanent textile labels for trust, traceability, and sustainable life cycle management. Brian’s path into engineering started with curiosity exposure and a series of people who helped him see what engineering could make possible. His father introduced him to engineering ideas early, but chemistry, research, and an energy audit project in high school helped the field click for him.

That path eventually led him to textile engineering at NC State and then to graduate school. After a mentor at WL Gore recognized his curiosity for research and encouraged him to pursue a PhD, Brian carried that curiosity into entrepreneurship. Experiences with a hard tech startup and a student venture capital fund gave him exposure to both developing and evaluating new technologies.

In our leadership segment, Brian talks about how he discovered that leading a team required more intentional structure than he naturally preferred. He has a high tolerance for ambiguity, but he learned that not everyone works best that way. One-on-one meetings became an important leadership tool, creating space for team members to surface challenges, exchange feedback, and clarify expectations.

Brian also learned that adapting to his team did not mean he had to personally design every process. Instead, he could give team members the tools and authority to help create the structure they needed. It allowed him to respond to different working styles without trying to become a fundamentally different kind of leader. Finally, in our advice and resources segment, Brian connects his approach to leadership with the continuous improvement mindset he saw through his father’s work in lean manufacturing.

Putting a system in place does not mean the work is finished. Leaders need to keep asking what is working, what is not, and how they can make it better. For engineers who want to build leadership skills, Brian recommends looking beyond formal coursework for opportunities to work with others, take initiative, and build something without a clear playbook. He also reminds us that leadership experience is not just about being the person in charge.

Being able to explain how you contributed to a team and helped it succeed can be just as valuable.

ADAMS (03:22)
Hi Brian. Welcome to Mastering Engineering Leadership.

Iezzi (03:25)
Hi Angelique. Thanks so much for having me.

ADAMS (03:27)
Thrilled to have you here. Can you start out by telling us how you got into engineering?

Iezzi (03:31)
Sure. so I think it started in high school. I had I went to the School of Science and Math in Durham, North Carolina. And I had a really awesome camera street teacher there. so I hadn’t really I guess I’d been exposed to it a bit. My dad is an engineer, but and like he like made us like understand like what Bernoulli’s principle was, like we were kids and stuff like that. like we like

Yeah, he was big into like air shows and things like that. So he used to he used to take us to he’s a pilot too, so like he would take us to air shows a lot. and but I guess that it didn’t click as much until like I took that chemistry class and it was just I don’t know, I learned a lot and then I got into this like research course where I was like we’re going to work at UNC C UN C Charlotte. And I just was in love with like all things like chemistry and like

figuring out like materials and thought it was super cool. and just like knew that like I think I wanted to like be be in that space. Like I think for engineering in particular, it was probably in like my like senior year of high school. I sorry I’m giving my full full entire background. Like I was born in Locked in 20 years ago. and

I there was this like engineering project from there’s this group called the Triangle Chate Council of Governments where they were pairing like high school students with like local engineers to do different projects. And I got paired with an energy auditor to do an audit of the school. and it was a just like really eye opening as well, because like we f I f like I learned like I saw that there was like a lot of like

things that like were pretty wasteful, like just like doing the audit. like I and like and I realized the cool part was is that it was quantitative. It wasn’t just like qualit like I feel like I had like some qualitative like interactions up to that point about like why, systems might be designed a certain way, but just because they’re designed a certain way doesn’t mean they should be designed that way forever. and and I think doing that audit like really like kind of like

it clicked a bit where I was like, okay, this is and if I go do like engineering for like my undergrad, like I could be, you know, A like is it wasn’t just like doing the job of the person I was like shadowing under, but it was something where like I could, be able to be part of like those designs, like making things you know, more efficient or less wasteful. you know, that kind of thing. And so I think that was kind of the like one of like the

kind of like key things. yeah. And then yeah, again with my like chosen like major like textile engineering largely because of like where I grew up, like in Gastonia. Like there was a a a really awesome company there called Parkdale Mills that has like a really strong like philanthropic like the the the what I he was still alive when I was when I was in school, but he was you know he like he worked on like floor shop.

like back in like the thirties or forties and like worked this all the way up to like you know being I was saying like sweet he’s like he’s like summer like essentially like summer intern back in like the thirties or forties like working in a textile mill and then I think he just like really was like really like into like giving back to the local community. So he ha he gave a bunch of scholarships to students to go study textiles. and that’s why I got into textile engineering. But then I found out how like cool it was like it was just like cool as a major. Like and even today like I

Tell people like that’s why I started and they’re like, A, where did you study that? And like B, like what is that? and so that obviously give it’s always like a cool conversation starter too. ’cause that it is I think it’s I think it’s really cool. So yeah, so I’d say those are encompassing probably all the things that kind of pulled me into engineering. Yeah, there’s more, but it’s probably right now. But

ADAMS (07:17)
Yeah, I think I mean I think it’s really interesting. One that you know you have a you have a family member, so your dad’s an engineer, but I I think it’s really interesting that you were, you know, somehow inspired by but also helped fund your your academic career through this this person who I and I don’t know if that plant was near where you live or like how did you learn about him? Was it through the scholarship, or how did you just learn about him and and his background?

Iezzi (07:39)
Yeah, I think like I knew a lot of people who worked at the company. Like they’re they’re like all over the southeast. Like they have I don’t know how many plants they have now, but like, you know, it’s at various times been like thirty to forty different companies. And you know, I I I will say like the majority of like conversations I had when I decided I was going to study textiles like were I would say they weren’t positive, but like they were

Folks were in general like that’s like a dime industry here in the US. Like you shouldn’t like why would you go study that? and like h his company was like one of the few that like was still doing well. like that hadn’t shut down. Cause that was I think that was like like in my hometown, like a lot of people had had worked in the industry and like had lost jobs like in like with NAFTA and like the nineties. and you know, and so I I think

And they were able to survive all of that because they invested in technology. Like they invested in, you know, you know, keeping like so much of the workforce they could, but like they like were like the only way we’re gonna be able to do this is like automating at least some aspects of our process. and I think that like was like how I got kind of like reintroduced to them a little bit was like they were doing like tours of like different facilities. Like one in Daphne, South Carolina, and

know I went tour there and I was like, this is super it was like they had like robots like going around like restarting like it used to be like as ’cause I I used to work at a yarn like research R and D center like outside of Charlotte for a summer and like I did like ring spinning maintenance, like rent running the ring spinning yarn frame by hand. And like it’s it you have to like constantly be watching to like restart the ends to like make sure it’s still spinning. And they had like a robot doing that. And it was like one of those things where you like I like it was like very clear for me like this is a taste I don’t think anyone

like probably wants to be doing it’s like not a very fun task. or like it it’s and and like one that could be automated and like they had invested in that and that was why they were still doing well. and so yeah so they had a long winded answer like it was that for I guess is like how I got reconnected and they’re like, hey if you live in you know gas if you live in a county where there is a plant for like one of

the the park no plans like you’re eligible to apply for the scholarship. Yeah.

ADAMS (09:52)
Okay. And so you studied textile engineering at NC State and then you decided to go on to graduate school. Can you talk a little bit about why you decided to do that?

Iezzi (10:01)
Sure. that was actually because of another internship. So I was working at Gore, WL Gore. for those on the podcast who aren’t familiar, you probably have heard have heard of Gore Tex. especially if you’re like in the anywhere related to having like waterproof jackets or shoes or you know, that’s what gore is like known for. They actually start out as a electrical insulation company for the space program. So I don’t think a lot of people know that. Yeah.

So that was like the PTFE coating was used for like it was like the only I I can’t remember there was some combination of like characteristics of the material that like made it super ideal for the for the moon the moon program. and so but then they figured out like that it could make like a really great lightweight, the waterproof and breathable barrier. so anyways, enough pit short. That was a cool internship. I had really awesome time that summer because I was working on

doing durability testing for Cortex materials. So like I was in their fabrics division, getting to like stress test, you know, these fabrics to like nine ways to Sunday to figure out like what if there was a particular failure mode that was happening and they were trying to I was trying to do detective work to figure out why. and it was it was awesome. Like it was so much like it was a really awesome internship. but at the end of summer my it wasn’t my direct boss, but was a

a higher up in the division who was one who recruited me because she had gone to NC State as well. And she said, you know, you could potentially like come here, like you could finish your undergrad and then come here and be kind of an intro engineer and like you do great. but you know, just like like we had a poster session, she’s like this poster screams grad school. Like she’s like, you like you how you’re like presenting things here, like I don’t

She’s like, we have a R and D division. And I think you’d be you’d have a lot more fun over there. Like she’s like, you seem like you’re more interested, like in she like, it’s applied, but like on the more like fundamental side of things. Like you want to understand why that’s happening. And she was like, So like I, you know, so if I was you, I would go to grad school, which was like really like interesting to me, because like I was like at that point, I was like,

I thought like the whole point of the internship program I think was for to find, you know, new new engineers for for their different divisions. And at the time I didn’t quite realize I I I was like that I felt I was like, sh like, well she might just like not want to hire me. Like saying I should go to grad school. but I’ve actually stayed connected with her and like I I’ve actually for her that that’s like been I I really appreciate her telling me to do that ’cause like it

You know, I I think it did like looking back, like I’m really glad I did do that. like I did decide to go to grad school. That wasn’t the only reason, but like that’s like the one that like kind of stands out in my mind about I I also did like re like ’cause she knew I’d done research all through undergrad as well. Like that pretty much like I worked like two or three different labs, like and published a paper, like and so she was like, you know it do you have fun doing that? Yes. Okay, then you know.

Like she’s like, you can come back and work here. Like it’s like and you’ll probably be doing something you’d like more than like being, you know, like I guess farther down the the chain of like development. So so yeah, I I’d say that was like kind of the kind of what got me into going to grad school. I as the one last thing I’ll mention is I I also like was really inspired. Like the one thing I thought was really cool about the school of science map is like pretty much all of the physical science teachers had doctorates.

and like that I just I was like I don’t know what my where my life’s gonna take me, but like I think like one day I would love to like go teach somewhere. and like you know, I think I’ve realized since then that like you don’t really need a PhD to do that potentially, especially in engineering sometimes. Like you can have a lot of industry experience and so but that was something that like kind of was also like kind of guiding me in that path of like you know

De definitely I I mean, same thing. I don’t know if I would ever go back for like a tenure track position or something, but like I think that like also like being just it felt like something I would be it felt at the right time to go go do grad school for that for that reason as well. So

ADAMS (14:17)
I think people don’t sometimes don’t recognize how influential they can be in sharing reflections back to people about, you know, you seem really good at this or you seem like you really enjoyed that. You might consider this other thing. I mean, it’s really it’s come up a lot. and so I it’s interesting that you you had that experience as well. so then you went to graduate school and you talk a little bit about what you have done with your PhD.

Iezzi (14:37)
Sure. Yeah. so when when I was in grad school, I had this really interesting, like I had a startup for a bit when I was an undergrad. and that was like probably like one of the most like I learned so much like when like several and it was like in like the hard tech space as well. So like it was you know applying like material science to and that in this case it was like a hydrogen catalyst for for creating like hydrogen fuel.

and I I knew like that I f I liked that bound that boundary where it was like not just doing fundamental research but like trying to like like get it out into the world. and so when I was in grad school like I tried to be like more intentional about like what I was working on. So like I worked at there was a student VC fund at University of Michigan where MBAs and

I like we they had had a few PhD students like like up until I was there. it was mostly MBAs and like law students, but then they’d started investing in like more deep tech or like or they were doing due diligence on deep tech startups. And they’re like, We don’t like we have folks coming in here like that have like a like well, I can’t say probably doesn’t matter at this point, but I would say new to companies we did D D on. But you know, there there was like companies that had

like technical portfolios and patents and things like that. They’re like, we we can’t verify, like we can’t do good process examination on these companies because like we just that’s just not our background typically. not saying none of them had engineering backgrounds that many of them did, but not at a PhD level. and that’s where a lot of these, you know, advanced technologies are is like you kind of have to maybe have somewhat more of like a PhD level or like many years of engine experience in that specific field to understand what they’re working on.

ADAMS (16:22)
Yeah, I I think that it’s interesting that you, had this experience of actually doing some of the due diligence. And so you came with the perspective of, okay, not only do I kind of know how this works, but I’ve seen through the evaluation side where holes often, show up and what those look like

Not a lot of entrepreneurs, at least that I’ve had an opportunity to work with, have that side it sounds like it’s it has served you well.

can you talk a little bit about the startup that you’re that you’re leading now?

Iezzi (16:49)
For sure. Yeah. the company’s called Fibar Code. So it’s FI barcode. and we’re creating a fiber-based barcoding system. so the idea is if you have ever like cut out a clothing label before, and I usually do this at pitch events because it’s an easy one where people raise their hands because I think almost everyone has, the information that’s in code like encoded on those tags is really useful.

for end of use. So whether what’s the material it the item is made out of, who is the manufacturer, the brand, where it came from, all that information is really useful, especially if you’re trying to recycle or resell the item appropriately. But obviously that almost immediately gets lost always. and this was something I kind of ha had my brother was actually working at a textile recycling he still works at a textile recycling startup and he was the one

telling about like, you know, people send us stuff all the time and we don’t know what to do with it because, you know, they don’t send it like often does not have labels by the time it gets to us. and I was like, well if you had, you know, like some sort of embedded label, would that be helpful? And he’s like, that sounds like could be it could be pretty helpful. Like, and you know, wrote a wrote a a small proposal to do it during my graduate studies, did a proof of concept and then you know, now we’re

it’s almost five years later, which is crazy to think about. and it’s definitely not been like a linear path, but like we’re we’re we grow into a team of you know eight, eight or so at this point, and have raised almost like $2.7 million dollars in non-developed funding that has that has like really accelerated us and we’re you know trying to we’re working on the the thing I’ve felt coolest about recently cool sorry that’s been most rewarding recently is like we’re working on our course pilot as well right now. And that’s been

just hugely informative from so many different reasons like levels of like okay actually trying to integrate our system into another person’s product and you know have to take consideration their manufacturing processes and but i it had been a lot of it had been very conceptual until this point and then now we’re actually trying to do it and that’s been really rewarding. so yeah I’d say that’s a yeah it’s a n nutshell but yeah so I think we actually talked about it. It’s like it is a Fibar

that looks like a a yarn that can be integrated during the manufacturing process of the textile manufacturing process. So for example, if you wove a a fabric, you know, we could weave it in with that and you scan it and it’d be able to tell you information about the item.

I would that like it like I said, it’s not often linear. so like for example, I the company that I got my scholarship from I actually ended up working for them for a time after graduate school. so I worked for them for about a year. and I was like

essentially still working on Fibar

code on the side during that time. And I was pretty transparent with them. I think part of the reason I got that job was because of like the paper we published. They were like, this is super interesting. Like you obviously you’re thinking about things in the in interesting ways. Like we would love to have you on team. I learned so much through

working with them. Like it was an amazing like opportunity to like get really hands-on experience like with a large industry manufacturer, which doesn’t like there aren’t too many opportunities like that, especially in the textile industry here in the US, do like more of an RD type role. but you know it was something where you know the pathway is like not always like continuous. Like I I when I was finishing up my PhD and like I at that point like I was working on like a postdoc for a year.

where I kind of knew I wanted to do Fibar code, but we ran out of funding. I was just really transparent with them. they’re like, hey, as long as you’re doing well with us, like you can do whatever you want with your own time. I’ve mentioned that to other people and they were like, okay, that seems like that was pretty open for of them to do that.

ADAMS (20:25)
I really like about what you said that you ran out of funding and so you needed to get a job in order to have an income and that you

made that choice, which I think is often really hard for entrepreneurs to grapple with but then also you were transparent with the company saying, This is what I’m doing. They were, they were fine with it. And then now, Fibar code is off to the races.

Iezzi (20:46)
It’s like kind of the classic like you don’t know until you ask. and and I think that’s been like really rewarding for me I had, you know, an income for a year where I was able to like kind of still be obviously like learning a lot through that job, but like being able to work on Fibar code as well. and that has been like really, really that’s like instrumental in like getting us to where we are today.

ADAMS (21:18)
Brian, can you give us an example of how you use leadership skills in your work?

Iezzi (21:22)
Sure. I think this is a good question as well for the over the last like six months or so. where we’ve when I was in grad school, like I had you know, under undergraduates that were working under me at various times. typically be like one or two people. and and I don’t know if I did a great job. Like I think I was overall like there A wasn’t a lot of pressure, like it was like

you know, whatever they got done, they got done and and so like and this I think that was it did help me learn. but I think something that I’ve and actually like your help as well, like it’s like helped a ton with how to be like more intentional with folks you’re working with.

especially like as like a team leader. so like, you know, I’m I’m our founder and CEO. So like ultimately like the buck does stop with me. you know, we’ve been able to bring on up like several like amazing team members that I heard like have very specific skill sets that I think like complement my own and like and I think we’ve done a good job with like hiring so far. sorry, and hiring feels like a it’s like a big, big a bigger like company term.

versus I mean we are, but I I think something that I’ve really I had to learn, maybe like somewhat the hard way over the past six months has been how to like engage like team members like with a structured let’s say like plan for like what their what their

expectations are like in their job, what their communication expectations are for you know communicating with me, but then also like what what the requirements are for the position. If that and I guess that those are kind of sound like the same thing, but they’re slightly like different. Like at least I’ve been looking at them differently because you know it I

I have like like this is I guess like my if you want to talk about like my like leadership struggle as well, it’s like I think I do tend more towards of not being like super strict and saying like, you know, hey, like I think we can figure this out. and what I’ve learned from that is essentially like being

not like being like up front with like, hey, like you guys give me feedback about like how I’ve been doing a good job for or like sorry, have I been doing a good job, you know, giving y’all the feedback when you need. now that I’ve like implemented more of those, like kind of one on one sessions with their our different team members, it has helped a ton with like not only them like feeling more comfortable like telling me about hey, like this is working or this isn’t working.

It’s also, you know, helped me a lot with like being much clearer with you know what the expectations are for them. and I think that’s something where it’s like you like of course like you should have like regular meetings with like your employees. And we do. We have plenty of like regular meetings, but like I realized that having, you know, these one on one meetings helped has helped a lot with like I just said, like for them being able to like

feel more comfortable like bringing things up with me about, you know, whether that’s hey, here’s like like a project I’ve been struggling on and like I haven’t felt like I’ve been able to tell you because like we’ve only been having our like main group meetings. And like it’s you know, and like and then on my full side I was like, like I wish I had known that sooner, obviously. Like ’cause we could have addressed it sooner. And like and that’s and I think and the reason I bring all this up is ’cause I for a startup like that’s really it’s

And then why I mentioned the thing about grad school is like there is that pressure with the startup, like where it’s you know, we do like and you know, there is like a very lim like, yes, things are going well right now, but like I’ve been in the boat where like things aren’t going well. Like and and they can that can happen pretty quickly. and so like you know, there’s I I think there like can be some like

negative like connotations around startups where it’s just like okay everyone expected expected to like work all the time like and devote their entire lives to this and like I think that’s I don’t know like it just it just feels like unrealistic like like for for like a healthy culture at a at any company. but like it also is like tempered with like we don’t have like a large like we’re not we don’t one project team on a larger corporate team.

Where like we have a bit more flexibility. Like it it’s like the buck does stop with us. And I think communicating that, you know, has also helped as well. So I I think there’s like a few different things in there, but I’d say like if I had to wrap it up, like I would say like overall, like instituting like earlier if you find yourself in a leadership role, like if you’re a project manager on like a team, instituting, you know, one on one sessions with like project like

project project members if that isn’t already in place like at your organization is like really important. I mean being intentional about how you set those up is important as well. It’s not just, hey, this is gonna be my time to like grow you on things you’ve been working on. You know, it’s gonna be it’s gonna be a back and forth type of thing where we we both have an opportunity to to give each other feedback. And I think that’s helped a lot as well. So

ADAMS (26:27)
Yeah, that’s great. I mean, there’s a couple of themes I want to pick up on. So I love what you said about, you know, you realized you needed to implement a little bit more structure. And, it sounds like you as your own personality is probably to be less structured. But then you’re also in a startup environment, which again, I think it’s you know, and along with what you were talking about, sort of this myth of

constantly working all the time. I think yeah, another myth of the startup culture is that it’s very loose, right? Like there’s not time to have any structure and nobody wants to, have any processes in place. It’s just like total chaos. And then like, I don’t know, some sort of miracle happens and then you make a billion dollars. I’m not exactly sure what people actually expect. But I hear a lot of people bristle at the idea of having a little bit of structure when they’re in when it when they’re in a startup mode, because they don’t think that’s real. And you’re saying, no, actually it’s real. And and in fact I wish I had even done it a little bit sooner.

and then of course I love what you said about one-on-ones because to me that is really a critical leadership tool for all the reasons you said. It allows people to get more comfortable with sharing more openly with you when you make them open communication, open forum. I talk and you talk, and we b both talk openly, and that just really fosters rapport and trust. So I’m glad that you’re implementing those and that they’re working for you.

Follow-up question I have for you is maybe given that it is probably wasn’t your default personality to kind of implement some of these things, I’m curious how you got comfortable with recognizing, I may need to implement some structure here, and then finding a way that you felt good about implementing some of these tools that you talked about.

Iezzi (28:00)
Yeah, I think the my immediate like response to that is like it it goes back to understanding that like you have a diverse team like with different approaches to like how they solve problems and and I think that is why I realized that like I I’m I’m okay I guess like I I didn’t realize I have like a pretty high level of tolerance for like chaotic

environments. Like and I guess maybe that is like maybe what drew me to like like more like maybe research in the first place. And then like and and and but that’s not everyone obviously and I mean then there’s no and I think that’s the flip side is like that’s like this it’s very easy to like try and say like okay this is like the way things should be or shouldn’t be and it’s like you know you have team members that need more structure. and

You know, they can do really well if they’re in an environment where there’s a bit more structure. And so me like saying like, well, we’re just gonna have an unstructured environment because that’s how I like operating, like that is like a pretty it’s the it’s it’s just it didn’t seem like it very like it I I think it did take me a while to realize that, but then it was something where like I realized how important it was that, you know and and I think maybe the thing that I’ve found has been helpful is that you

If I don’t like being the one who puts the structure in place, but someone needs structure, like giving them the tools that they can do that. and be able to like create the structure that they need versus ’cause I think it could be very easy to like look at that and be like, Well, I’m the boss and so I have to create like I don’t like creating structure. I don’t feel like I need structure, but like they need structure, so I have to create the structure for them. And you’re doing something that you might a not be adept at doing or because you don’t do it often, you haven’t practiced it. and instead like

And then that’s like, you know, I’d say like our team members have create like our most of my other team members like thrive better, what I’ve learned in having more structure and like and and whether I I don’t know if I I think I can say this looking back, I don’t know if I intentionally did this, but like they’ve they created a lot of the structure. and that has been great for us, like because like I think also like they felt like they’re have more of a say in like what their day to day work life looks like.

And I think, you know, for whatever the like the purposes are, I think it can be if you’re like in a leadership position, like it could be it could be I could see it being easy to like fall into like, hey, like especially if you potentially have like someone over you as well, like that’s saying like, well, you don’t have enough structure, you need to put more structure in place, but that’s not really how I operate. But I’ve been told by my boss now that I have to put the structure in place like that.

And the and then the vice versa. It’s like, hey, you guys are too structured. You guys need to be a little bit more like you guys are creative enough. Like you like I could think I could see going the exact opposite direction as well, obviously. And it’s obviously it’s not a binary as a continuum. But but yeah, I think I think that has been like really good learning for for me. on like you know, like giving folks the tools they need to create the work environment they want as well.

ADAMS (30:59)
Yeah, I think that’s a great insight It doesn’t mean that you have to be the one to design everything. you can listen to what they want, what they need, give them the tools to design things and then plug in as needed,

So you figured out a way to sort of manage that with them and for yourself. Cause that’s the other thing. Oftentimes I’ll see leaders try to contort themselves into what they think their team needs and then be miserable. And it sounds like you have really found this right balance.

for them and for you and which ultimately then means that it’s it’s for the company.

Iezzi (31:32)
Yeah, just like build on kind of what you were just saying about like like there where you’ve seen I guess we’re mine with jumping to like my my dad’s like does like continuous improvement. Like he’s been like doing doing lean like his that’s his kind of forte is he worked in manufacturing and did lean manufacturing and and I think that’s like

You you should be focusing on like continuously improving. Like and so like just I I would not say like we have most like perfect structures in place yet. Right. and I think being like honest with yourself as well about that and like saying like okay, this can still be improved is like is probably the right that’s mindset that I’ve been trying to like stay in like be in and say like, okay, like and and that’s where you can get more of that from like those one on one meetings where it’s like you’re not

Like it’s like, okay, well, we’ve been trying this thing out for X period now. Like, how is it working? Like, how can we improve it? And like I think it that’s a similarly like a thing, it feels like it’d be pretty easy to say, like, we got a system place we’re good. and you know, obviously like is it is it good? Like are you use and then are you using like there are obviously like many like this has been a like you know, there are many different tools you can now use.

you you do paretos and things like that to figure out like whether these things are actually like getting better or not.

ADAMS (32:56)
All right, Brian, as we wrap up, what advice do you have for engineers who are interested in pursuing leadership roles?

Iezzi (33:02)
That’s a good question.

I would say

The more so let’s say this is going to like a a collegiate audience. I would say if you can find projects where like they’re outside of your curriculum, I think that’s something where like where you can gain like that’s at least me personally, like where I gained a lot of I think my like leadership teamworking abilities.

I would just, you know, strongly recommend like you find like things that like and i if like something doesn’t already exist like outside of kind of like your your curricular classes, like go ahead and just try and like create something. I know it’s like it’s like okay, it’s easy for you to say like but like that

Similarly, like that was like where, you know, I felt where I learned the most about leadership, like when I was like kind of like at that age. like where we had this proposal to like get a sustainability fund on campus and they were like, Hey, we need to someone actually like could run like to actually run and like make sure the mu the funds are getting distributed. I was like, that sounds cool. I’ll do that. Like and I like like it wasn’t like the

position didn’t exist like for more than I think they’d had it for like a year before I got there. And and you know, I was like helped put like that in place. And this isn’t like, hey, this is like, hey, look at me, like this is some cool stuff I did. Like it’s something I was like really passionate about. And I saw that like there was an opportunity there. And I think that has like translated well like since then where you know when I’m looking at

like reviewing like resumes for like whether it’s an internship or like a full time position for like for our hiring process. Like that’s that is oftentimes like what I’m asking about when I’m looking for is that, you know, students who like A, like have like sought those types of experiences out, but then also like can talk about like how they’ve worked on teams as well. and I think that’s like really it’s like very easy to jump into like, okay, what have you led?

if you can talk about like how, here’s like specifically how I fit into fit into this team, like might not actually led anything, but was like instrumental in like achieving this other thing, like that’s also really valuable as well.

ADAMS (35:15)
Brian. Thank you so much for sharing your insights with us.

Iezzi (35:18)
Yeah, thanks so much for having me.