Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
How does someone go from working oil and gas jobs with no idea what he wants to do, to building satellites that ship to space? In this episode of Shop Talk, we sit down with Ty Ridings, a mechanical engineer at Lockheed Martin Space and the maker behind one of the most genuinely beginner-friendly Fusion channels on YouTube.
He talks through the community college route that got him a degree debt free, what it looks like inside a heritage aerospace company being pushed to move faster by a wave of space startups, and why asking the silly question is the most underrated skill an engineer can have.
Check out Ty's channel: youtube.com/@tyridings
Chapters:
0:00 – Welcome to Shop Talk
0:56 – Meet Ty Ridings
2:54 – The $100 test that pointed him to engineering
5:14 – Advice: build a skill first, skip the debt
10:44 – Learning on YouTube and stacking skills
14:51 – Scholarships and the road to Lockheed Martin
19:34 – What Lockheed Martin Space actually builds
21:42 – One-of-one satellites vs. building at scale
25:02 – Aerospace thinking on a $500 3D printer
28:47 – Why his beginner Fusion tutorial hit
29:43 – Asking silly questions is a superpower
32:55 – From tutorials to real project builds
38:37 – The 3D print cabinet and Meshtastic
41:39 – The consumer product he'd love to build
43:11 – Shout-outs: RTA Fabrication and Scott Yu-Jan
45:32 – Where to find Ty
►FREE TRIAL | https://autode.sk/3Wtfi20
►SUBSCRIBE | https://autode.sk/30njGGX
►GET STARTED | https://autode.sk/30k2DWh
►TRY AN EXTENSION | https://autode.sk/3EOUidW
CONNECT with Fusion on social media:
INSTAGRAM | https://autode.sk/2Enzh8P
TWITTER | https://autode.sk/45cIYTK
LINKEDIN | https://autode.sk/3UyieZS
FACEBOOK | https://autode.sk/3WaaZLb
How does someone go from working oil and gas jobs with no idea what he wants to do, to building satellites that ship to space? In this episode of Shop Talk, we sit down with Ty Ridings, a mechanical engineer at Lockheed Martin Space and the maker behind one of the most genuinely beginner-friendly Fusion channels on YouTube.
He talks through the community college route that got him a degree debt free, what it looks like inside a heritage aerospace company being pushed to move faster by a wave of space startups, and why asking the silly question is the most underrated skill an engineer can have.
Check out Ty's channel: youtube.com/@tyridings
Chapters:
0:00 – Welcome to Shop Talk
0:56 – Meet Ty Ridings
2:54 – The $100 test that pointed him to engineering
5:14 – Advice: build a skill first, skip the debt
10:44 – Learning on YouTube and stacking skills
14:51 – Scholarships and the road to Lockheed Martin
19:34 – What Lockheed Martin Space actually builds
21:42 – One-of-one satellites vs. building at scale
25:02 – Aerospace thinking on a $500 3D printer
28:47 – Why his beginner Fusion tutorial hit
29:43 – Asking silly questions is a superpower
32:55 – From tutorials to real project builds
38:37 – The 3D print cabinet and Meshtastic
41:39 – The consumer product he'd love to build
43:11 – Shout-outs: RTA Fabrication and Scott Yu-Jan
45:32 – Where to find Ty
►FREE TRIAL | https://autode.sk/3Wtfi20
►SUBSCRIBE | https://autode.sk/30njGGX
►GET STARTED | https://autode.sk/30k2DWh
►TRY AN EXTENSION | https://autode.sk/3EOUidW
CONNECT with Fusion on social media:
INSTAGRAM | https://autode.sk/2Enzh8P
TWITTER | https://autode.sk/45cIYTK
LINKEDIN | https://autode.sk/3UyieZS
FACEBOOK | https://autode.sk/3WaaZLb
