• Process Safety Management Dream – New Software Paradigms from AI

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    Below I will attempt to describe the requirements of a dream I have, ever since participating in my first Process Hazard Analysis as a chemical engineer. Every engineer involved in new building of chemical processes, whether brownfield or greenfield, would benefit from something powered by machine learning and AI-based tools (databases and information being automatically updated and fields being pre-populated). Since in the field, there are a limited number of potential scenarios involved, the process could in theory become programmatic. The intention therefore would be to lighten the cognitive load for engineers tired of sitting in a room for 3-5…

  • “Nobody Wants to Work Anymore: A PM Tale”

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    Devin Friske, July 10th 2025 America’s needs require a mix of private/public partnership and a balance of power between private and public entities.  In handing off some duties better suited to private party, the federal and state governments award contracts which have easily verified public accounting, performance targets, and corrective measures… they can do this and it’s perfectly capitalistic and, honestly, a good thing that a private entity that is bidding a government contract must compete with other firms to win. Many lump sum contracts are finite – they have a beginning and end specified in scope of work documentation,…

  • A reasonable chain of embarrassing life events this is very personal don’t read

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    Doug was still able to receive text messages from Devin, because Doug did not block Devin’s cell phone number on his phone (Doug was able to figure out how to block Devin on LinkedIN and blocked him in June of after the May Devin posted the blog post on his website. Doug is a master strategist, after all. He owns over 1000 board games, legend has it. But for some reason Doug can’t figure out how to block Devin’s text messages?Because Doug wants retaliation. Doug wants to settle a score, so Doug lets Devin digging his own problems for himself……

  • Reaction vs. Vision

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    I got in trouble for these exact words before, so I leave now an annotated copy to prevent misunderstandings. Since it is easier to annotate with a .DOCX file, I simply leave the link below. No, this is not a virus it goes to my personal OneDrive where I keep things I write that I leave unpublished or don’t think are ready for the world to see. What I got in trouble for: Reaction vs. Vision.docx What I really meant to say: Reaction vs. Vision REVISED COPY June 2025.docx Document password for both documents: itisfinished Please compare and contrast the…

  • Trial of the Century (1/?)

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    To my US-based folk with eyes on a trial of the century set to come up in 2026… and please do note that this type of action which may seem random and weird on an individual level, but when made known in greater numbers has a potency to spread like wildfire… I encourage all relatively healthy and relatively young adults in the workforce to waive company-provided healthcare coverage in protest… even if it is free. Even if it heavily subsidized… Even if your other family members might need it… Because the injustice of the system of care and repair of…

  • Process Safety Basics – Ask An Engineer

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    Recently someone reached out to me on LinkedIN interested in Process Safety and Project Management, two topics which have defined the structure of my short career. Their background and context was outside of engineering, outside of process safety, and focused on Project Management fundamentals and how to incorporate safety reviews into project-based work. Question: As a newcomer who is learning related fields, I would like to ask, when dealing with complex projects, what key safety management strategies do you pay most attention to? Answer: I’m trying to make Process Safety my career – it’s all about knowing how to estimate…

  • Potential. It is ALL relative.

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    My small town had two high school campuses, despite being combined in sports, whose students would pick at each other. The story of the town paints a picture of a tiny suburb’s growth over time. East being the much older school, the first major school building in the area, more interesting architecture and smaller facilities, while West was new construction in a cornfield and was designed with a much bigger footprint and big gymnasium. Westies found reasons to hate Easties, supposedly, and vice-versa, but it never really mattered. At the end of the day, you were still in a small…