TRI Be Yourself Spotlight: Meet Brendan Hathaway

At TRI, one of our values is “Be Yourself” which encourages team members to bring their full selves to work every day. Our diverse views, history, personality, character, and experiences are invaluable to the work we do at TRI and Toyota.

For this month’s TRI Be Yourself Spotlight, meet Brendan Hathaway :?

Brendan Hathaway

What do you currently do at TRI?

I am the engineering manager for the Prototyping and Research Operations department at TRI. My team helps make TRI’s researchers’ ideas come to life.?

In addition to managing the team, I manage our onsite machine shop and prototyping facility in Cambridge. In these spaces, we have 3D printers and tools to cut all sorts of materials into any shape for teams. I design parts, partner with vendors, and empower teams across TRI to find success in their problem solving and prototyping processes.??

What do you love most about what you do?

When TRI research teams come to my team to ask us to design or prototype something, they are trying to create something that has never been done before. My team takes novel concepts and forges material solutions to technical problems.?

I love how creative that process is and how we can turn abstract ideas into reality. Everyone at TRI is an expert in a specific area, and it is rewarding to participate in such an intellectually stimulating environment.

What sparked your interest in mechanical engineering?

This is my deep, dark secret, but I was already accepted as an undecided liberal arts major at Boston University (BU) when I discovered what engineering was all about. A few MIT researchers were visiting my high school, and it occurred to me that I could do it too. In fact, I would be missing out if I did not pursue engineering as a major.?

The summer between high school and college, I ended up working at the MIT Sea Grant lab (with the same researchers who visited my high school) on an algae biofuels project and immediately began working on transferring to the engineering college at BU.?

I settled on mechanical engineering because it is broad, yet rooted in the very tangible, physical world. I ended up working at two different machine shops in college, and learning about the interplay of design and manufacturing really changed my perspective on my career path and the steps that I needed to take to become an engineer who was a capable thinker and maker.

I am an endlessly curious person, and engineering is such a great fit for me because I get to understand how the world works through math and science, and then figure out how to practically apply those concepts to solve real-world problems.

What do you like to do for fun?

I keep bees! I have a few hives at home, and it is a really rewarding hobby.?

It forces me to focus on the singular task of working with the bees when I am doing it, so it is meditative. The beekeeping community is really wonderful and generous, so there is always something to learn too.?

I also maintain a veggie garden, enjoy cooking, and like hiking and “getting lost” (although not at the same time).

What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever received?

My guiding principle in work and life is to "be an expert of my own learning." Everything we know, we know by learning; therefore, by understanding how we learn best, we are able to know and do more. This has meant that in my career, I am mindful of my own ways of learning and create spaces and environments where I can be more capable. I also use this concept to understand how my teammates learn best, so I can also help them structure their experiences to learn and grow too.?