The Michael Peres Podcast

Michael Peres
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The Science of Today Is The Technology of Tomorrow

  1. MAY 7

    A Conversation with Karen Leos

    Michael Peres with Karen Leos, Vice President of Global Sales and Professional Services at Tellabs, about why network infrastructure deserves a bigger place in conversations around sustainability, cost, and long-term building strategy. With more than 20 years at Tellabs and a career spanning IT, global support, technical services, and customer success, Karen brings a practical, customer-first perspective to how organizations can rethink connectivity from the ground up. In this episode, you’ll learn: • What Optical LAN is and how it differs from traditional copper-based enterprise networks • Why network infrastructure is often overlooked in “green building” conversations • The sustainability and operational advantages Optical LAN can offer in large environments like airports, hotels, campuses, and government facilities • How Optical LAN can lower total cost of ownership beyond just the environmental benefits • What CIOs and facilities leaders should consider when planning long-term infrastructure for new builds

    22 min

  2. MAY 6

    A Conversation with Cheryl Stauffer

    Michael Peres speaks with Cheryl Stauffer, founder and CEO of Crimson Design Group, a nationally recognized, WBENC-certified interior design firm based in Columbus, Ohio. Born in Paraguay and shaped by both South American warmth and Midwestern groundedness, Cheryl has spent more than 22 years building a design practice rooted in spaces that feel layered, intentional, and lived in. In this episode: • Cheryl’s design philosophy and how she thinks about creating spaces that connect past, present, and future • Why Crimson’s residential roots give the firm an edge when designing for commercial clients • The kinds of spaces Cheryl most loves to design and what draws her to them • How her role as a founder has evolved over 22 years and what excites her as Crimson approaches its 25 year mark • The contrarian belief she holds about design, plus her advice for younger professionals entering the field • Where she finds inspiration and how she protects her creativity over the long term

    16 min

  3. APR 21

    A Conversation with Lee Hyde

    Michael Peres sits down with Lee Hyde, North American Esports Specialist at Lenovo, about how schools are building meaningful esports programs that go far beyond gaming. With experience leading initiatives at Lenovo and previously helping create the Carolina Gaming Arena at UNC Chapel Hill, Lee brings a practical view of how esports, technology, and education are starting to intersect in powerful ways. In this episode, you’ll learn: • What “esports solutions for education” really means and why Lenovo is investing in the space • The biggest challenges schools face when launching esports programs • How K-12 and higher education esports differ, and what they can learn from each other • The role of AI, immersive technology, and hybrid learning in the future of student engagement • Why esports can open up real educational, social, and career opportunities for students

    19 min

  4. APR 21

    A Conversation with Goedele Mangelaars

    Michael Peres speaks with Goedele Mangelaars, solo founder of Pink Notebook, an AI-powered trip planning platform designed to make travel planning more visual, collaborative, and actually useful. With a life shaped by constant travel across the U.S. and London, plus experience at Skyscanner, Terra API, and Captify, Goedele brings a sharp perspective on why planning trips still feels more broken than it should. In this episode, you’ll learn: • How growing up across countries shaped Goedele’s relationship with travel and problem-solving • What it’s really like building as a solo, female, non-technical founder • Why she rejects the “move fast and break things” startup mindset • The challenge of building across both U.S. and European markets • What most AI travel planners still get wrong, and how Pink Notebook approaches it differently

    26 min

  5. MAR 4

    A Conversation with Jesse Shrader

    Catching up on another episode with Jesse Shrader – environmental engineer turned Bitcoin infrastructure builder – as he unpacks how building sewer systems unexpectedly prepared him to build financial pipes for the future of money. From wastewater treatment to decentralized liquidity markets, Jesse shares how open-source technology, renewable mining, and the Lightning Network are reshaping what Bitcoin can actually do. In this episode, you’ll learn: • How Jesse’s background in environmental engineering led him to co-found Amboss and build infrastructure for Bitcoin’s Lightning Network. • Why Bitcoin mining isn’t as “dirty” as critics claim—and how renewable energy and stranded power (like hydro in Africa) are part of the story. • What makes Bitcoin different from altcoins—and why “the next Bitcoin is Bitcoin.” • How the Lightning Network adds speed and privacy without compromising Bitcoin’s 21-million supply and auditability. • Whether quantum computing and SHA-256 encryption are real threats—or just headline-grabbing narratives.

    27 min

  6. FEB 24

    A Conversation with Chip Carter

    Michael Peres sits down with Chip Carter — creator and host of Where the Food Comes From — to explore one of the most fascinating questions of our time: How will we grow food in space? After thousands of farm visits and decades in media, Chip’s journey has taken him from small-town farming roots to standing on a NASA launch pad — and now into conversations about feeding astronauts on the Moon and beyond. Together, they dive into lunar soil experiments, zero-gravity farming, the Artemis program, and what it really takes to grow lettuce where DoorDash doesn’t deliver. In this episode, you’ll learn: • How Chip went from wanting to “get out of farming” to telling agriculture’s untold tech stories • Why modern farming is powered by robotics, AI, drones, and blockchain • How scientists successfully grew plants in actual lunar regolith • The challenge of watering crops in zero-gravity • Why the Moon is becoming a launch platform for deep space exploration • How bio-unit lunar farms could create breathable atmosphere and grow food on the Moon • What growing plants in space reveals about life beyond Earth

    35 min

  7. FEB 24

    A Conversation with Les Johnson

    Catching up with Les Johnson, former Chief Technology Officer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and veteran space technologist with a forty year career in aerospace, as he digs into the real engineering behind interplanetary travel, solar sails, nuclear rockets, and the future of humanity in space. From leading advanced propulsion programs at NASA to writing both hard science and science fiction, Les brings a rare mix of technical depth and big picture perspective. In this episode, you’ll learn: • How Les went from a 12 year old kid dreaming of NASA to Chief Technology Officer at Marshall Space Flight Center • How solar sails and nuclear thermal rockets really work – and why they may be key to deep space and Mars missions • What makes sustaining life on Mars so difficult, especially when it comes to radiation and long term survival • How Les thinks about existential risks like AI, nuclear war, and quantum computing as “slow catastrophes” rather than movie style disasters • Why he’s skeptical we must have a single “theory of everything” and how his liberal arts background helps him explain complex physics to everyday people

    39 min

  8. FEB 17

    A Conversation with Markus Levin

    Michael Peres is joined by Markus Levin, co-founder of XYO and a veteran entrepreneur with 15+ years building and scaling tech companies around the world. After mining his first Bitcoin in 2013, Markus became deeply involved in blockchain, data infrastructure, and new business models at the edge of Web3, AI, and robotics. Today, he’s focused on decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) and how they can unlock the next generation of real-world automation. In this episode, you’ll learn: • How decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) could become the missing verification layer robots need to operate safely outside controlled environments • Why AI-driven, blockchain-backed sensor networks may be critical for helping robots confirm that what they “see” is actually real • How DePIN-based consensus systems could tackle one of robotics’ biggest limitations: filtering, ranking, and challenging unreliable sensory data in dynamic environments • Ways decentralized networks can add transparency, resilience, and trust to robot decision-making without relying on a single vendor or cloud provider • Why the combination of edge AI, DePIN sensors, and distributed verification might become the foundation for truly scalable, real-world autonomous machines

    35 min
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About

The Science of Today Is The Technology of Tomorrow

Information

  • Creator
    Michael Peres
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright; The Michael Peres Podcast
  • Show Website
    The Michael Peres Podcast