Innovation is intrinsic to industrial engineers. From optimizing efficiencies to streamlining workflows, industrial engineers leave things better than they found them.
That’s just what industrial engineering senior Sommie Ezenwukwa is doing for his fellow students. His podcast, Beyond the Assembly Line, shares tips, advice and experiences designed to benefit aspiring engineers from all disciplines.
Ezenwukwa came to UCF from Houston, Texas, after learning about the university’s reputation as one of Florida’s top engineering schools and the opportunities offered in Orlando. With two other engineers in the family — his dad and his sister — he knew he wanted to follow in their footsteps. He decided to pursue industrial engineering for its far-reaching impacts on areas from healthcare and logistics to information technology and financial services.
He and co-host Harsh Shah, also an industrial engineering student, began their podcast five months ago. The 10 episodes they have recorded so far cover everything from defining industrial engineering — a field many associate solely with manufacturing, a common misconception — to negotiating your first salary.
“At the end of each episode, every guest has a huge smile on their face and tells us how grateful they are for allowing them to share, and we are just as grateful for them taking the time to share,” Ezenwukwa says. “I now play a role in revealing tips and lessons from extremely intelligent and high achieving individuals in the STEM space to other up-and-coming engineers.”
Getting the podcast up and running wasn’t an easy journey.
The pair started by setting up a structure to market their podcast, including coming up with a name, designing a logo and creating social media accounts. They had a learning curve to overcome with the technical aspects of hosting, which included figuring out how to edit video footage.
Finding guests for the podcast was another big hurdle, and one that took more effort than they anticipated. There were a few rejections along the way. That challenge, however, created an opportunity for them to grow professionally by presenting a poised, self-assured demeanor when engaging with potential guests.
“Getting guests to come on the show has come down to me being confident enough to approach these individuals that are often older and far more experienced, pitch the podcast idea in a compelling way, then follow up via phone call, text message or email,” Ezenwukwa says.
The podcast began with quick, one-minute interviews from their fellow industrial engineering students, but has since broadened its focus to engineering in general. Guests interviewed include Aldi recruiter David Smith, UCF Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Senior Instructor Mark Calabrese, and Space Resource Technologies founder and CEO Anna Metke.
“I’ve learned a lot about video production and editing on the technical side in addition to communication skills and professionalism,” Ezenwukwa says. “I’ve also learned a lot about entrepreneurship and what it takes to take an engineering solution from an idea to a business as well as useful skills and lessons for when I enter the engineering industry as a young professional.”
Beyond the Assembly Line is available on both YouTube on Spotify. Episodes have been on pause for the summer as both co-hosts have been out of town but will ramp up again this fall.
“I hope to educate and inspire the next generation of engineers by giving them direct access to the successful engineers that they wish to be like in the future,” Ezenwukwa says. “I want young engineers and engineering students to see that there is not one linear journey that every engineer takes and the possibilities are endless.”
Written by Bel Huston | September 30. 2025