Episodes 39
Avg. Duration 32m
Activity Declining
Since Jun 2020
Latest Episode Aug 2025

Publishing Details

Schedule
Every 2 Months
Format
Episodic
Hosting
rss.buzzsprout.com

About This Podcast

We investigate how data and technology are shaping the present and future of the industrial economy. Join hosts Rebecca Ahrens and Joe Renshaw as we talk with experts from critical industries—from water and power to manufacturing, pharmaceutical production, and beyond—about the cutting-edge industrial technologies that are changing how engineers keep the everyday parts of life running.  

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Recent Episodes

What the energy transition looks like from inside the grid

Aug 05, 2025 40m

From 2007 to 2016, Steve Holliday was the CEO of the UK’s National Grid. In that time, the share of electricity generated by renewables in the UK grew from 3% to 16%. Today, that number is close to…

How a mine actually works

Jun 02, 2025 31m

Preston Miller, a veteran of the mining industry, explains why mining companies need to invest in a comprehensive digital twin. We also explore the operational challenges faced by miners and how…

XR training and the future of industrial work

May 01, 2025 34m

Attempts to meld virtual spaces and physical reality so far have struggled to take hold. For all the ingenuity behind projects like Google Glass, the metaverse, and the Apple Vision Pro, they’ve…

How to handle the coming e-waste avalanche

Mar 27, 2025 31m

Critical minerals are key to green technologies, but their supply is dominated by a small number of countries. Recycling could, in theory, open up a new source of supply of these minerals—but that…

Your life is manufactured

Feb 24, 2025 32m Transcript

Rebecca and Joe talk to Dr Tim Minshall, the Dr John C Taylor Professor of Innovation and Head of the Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge, about his new book, Your Life Is…

“The Victorian Internet”—The world’s first global communication network

Nov 01, 2024 11m

The telegraph system went from speculative theory to a global telecommunications network connecting continents via undersea cables in just 35 years. Episode…

Dark matter and ghost particles—industrial data helps uncover the secrets of the universe

Aug 30, 2024 35m

SNOLAB is the deepest clean lab in the world. It searches for the most elusive building blocks of our universe: neutrinos and dark matter. The Nobel Prize website describes its experiments as like…

AI: A sustainability friend or environmental foe?

Jul 02, 2024 33m

AI has been helping industries decarbonize for years by making their equipment more energy efficient and helping power grid operators incorporate more renewable energy sources. But, manufacturing,…

Green ammonia is decarbonizing food production

Apr 30, 2024 40m

Half the world relies on synthetic ammonia fertilizer to grow its food. But traditional ways of making ammonia produce about 2% of global CO2 emissions. On this episode, we speak to Dr. Zhenyu Zhang…

Bridging the skills gap with connected workers

Feb 28, 2024 20m Transcript

A whole generation of industrial workers is about to retire, taking extensive knowledge and skills with them. How can companies attract new high-quality workers and quickly give them the skills…

Industrial data will matter more than ever in the wake of COP28

Dec 30, 2023 31m

Industrial companies will need to change how they think about and interact with data if we’re going to meet the ambitious COP28 targets. We discuss cloud, AI, and the importance of data-sharing in…

How to turn connected workers into proactive workers

Nov 30, 2023 25m

Learn what solutions HENN connector group is using to connect its workers to real-time industrial data, digital systems, and each other, helping them work faster, safer, and more…

The future of the power grid: The challenge of DERs

Sep 19, 2023 34m Transcript

In the final episode of our series, “The Future of the Power Grid,” we talk to three industry experts about how grid operators are incorporating distributed energy resources (DERs)—like rooftop…

The future of the power grid: Aging infrastructure

Jul 18, 2023 25m Transcript

How do you put more power on an already strained and aging power grid? Our guests today say industrial software—and the data analysis it makes possible—is helping the grid increase capacity and…

The future of the power grid: Re-engineering for renewables

Feb 22, 2023 33m Transcript

In this episode, three experts discuss how technologies like smart grids, DERs and advanced industrial software can help us get renewable power where and when it’s most needed.Listen to the first…

How digitization is decarbonizing industry

Sep 08, 2022 22m

In this episode, host Rebecca Ahrens talks with Lisa Wee, the Vice President of Sustainability at AVEVA about how AVEVA is helping its customers meet their sustainability goals while reducing its own…

Why should businesses care about COP26?

Feb 25, 2022 23m

In this episode, host Rebecca Ahrens talks with Lisa Wee, the Vice President of Sustainability at AVEVA and Ruchi Shah, a Sustainability Manager at AVEVA, about the significance of COP26, the…

What can real-time data do in an emergency?

Oct 01, 2021 25m

How would it feel if you could know exactly what was going on with your water and power in the middle of a storm?  What about during a catastrophe?  Can real-time industrial data really help make…

Smart water for a changing environment

Jun 26, 2021 32m

In this episode, host Rebecca Ahrens talks with Gary Wong,  the Global Water Industry Lead and Expert for AVEVA , about some of the most pressing challenges facing the water industry. They discuss…

City of Riverside PUD on quantifying ROI and digital transformation in the water industry

Jun 22, 2021 36m Transcript

The City of Riverside Public Utilities Department has embraced digital transformation by making better use of sensor-based data. Because they work closely with their board of public utilities on…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Our Industrial Life have?

Our Industrial Life has published 39 episodes since June 2020, covering topics in Business, Science.

Is Our Industrial Life still active?

Our Industrial Life is currently declining with new episodes every 2 months. Average episode length is 32m.

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