
How to Troubleshoot Anything
The Art of Making Things Work
Creativity is the key to innovation, but is it also the key to…repair? Yes, troubleshooting is a creative endeavour, whether your problems are electrical, mechanical, or humanical in nature.
Join systems engineers Emily Nichols and Marcel Verner for an adventure in making things work. Start by shifting into curiosity – let your questions flow. Stay organized with a visual framework that everyone can see and understand – it lets you sweat the small stuff and see the big picture. Find the root cause(s), fix what’s broken, and solve your problems for good.
In this session you will learn:
- How to ask better questions, in ways that won’t trigger defensiveness
- Follow a repeatable problem-solving process that you can teach to your team
- Make the process visual, so everyone can see, understand, and participate
- Find the root cause(s), fix what’s broken, and solve problems for good
Emily’s Bio
P.Eng, B.Sc.(Eng), MA.Sc.(Eng) and S.e.n.s.e. (of Humour)
Emily Nichols nudges technical people to embrace their human skills, so they become better problem solvers, team players, and leaders. A professional engineer with more than 15 years of experience in
manufacturing and innovation, Emily has worked with organizations like PepsiCo, PPG, Janssen, Henkel, improving products and processes from business products as diverse as breakfast cereal to automotive paint and electrical steel. Emily easily connects at all levels of organizations, inspiring deeper understanding and collaborative teamwork.
Emily holds a B.Sc. in Systems Engineering from the University of Guelph and an M.A.Sc.(Eng) in Chemical Engineering from McMaster University. She summarized her chemical engineering master’s thesis in five Dr Seuss rhymes.
Emily also presents a keynote: Choose Your Own Words – Finding the future through language
Marcel’s Bio
P.Eng, B.A.Sc (Eng), M.E.Sc (Eng) and J.a.c.k. (of all Trades)
Marcel Verner solves the technical challenges that make amazing projects work. Whether it’s a high-stakes aerial film shoot, a robotic art installation, or a garden-variety household issue, Marcel sweats the small stuff, sees the big picture, and carries the tools to solve the problem. It is rare to find an engineer who combines such technical depth with decades of practical experience.
Marcel holds a B.A.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo and an M.E.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Western Ontario. His problem-solving skills earned Marcel a credit in Marvel’s Black Panther (2018).