Hello

My Story

I began my career as either a writer or an engineer, depending on where you place the start. At 14, I made my first freelance writing sale to a commercial magazine. In college, I studied mechanical engineering. My first professional job was with GE Aircraft Engines (now GE Aerospace), working in what was then called the Metalworking Technologies Laboratory. Most of my work was running test cuts on a lathe to evaluate different cutting tools in aerospace alloys, studying the tool wear under a microscope. My favorite part of this job was writing reports, and this was a clue to the work I was made and called to do. When I broke off to see if I could make my way as a writer, I discovered I had unintentionally cultivated a rare and useful combination of skills. That is, I am the engineer who excels as a writer. Or, I am the writer who loves the world of engineering, appreciates the values of this world, and can communicate to an engineering audience in ways the members of this audience find compelling.

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The first job I found as a writer was with a public relations firm (more below), but this job led me to Gardner Business Media, where I spent most of my career. For almost all my time with this company I wrote for Modern Machine Shop magazine, covering CNC machining. I do not know how many machine shops and machining facilities I visited for this publication, but my guess would place it around 400. The sight, smell and sound of a machine shop are richly comforting to me. For Gardner, I also launched the company’s Additive Manufacturing Media brand, covering industrial 3D printing. We were among the first to recognize that additive manufacturing would take its place as a mode of end-use part production, and this began one of the passions of my work: the exploration of how transformative industrial technologies are changing our world by changing what is possible in manufacturing. 

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Meanwhile, media kept changing as well. I pioneered Gardner’s use of video as means of content creation, but I always had help in doing so, generally partnering with coworkers who were adventurous enough to join me in this effort. The most visible success in this area is The Cool Parts Show, the video series about end-use part production through additive manufacturing that I conceived, co-created and co-hosted for 5 years. My own visibility due to The Cool Parts Show and other video reporting led to one of the highlights of my career, when I was invited by the U.S. Air Force in 2020 to host its week-long virtual event for manufacturing suppliers, the Advanced Manufacturing Olympics.

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Today, I am deeply mindful of how blessed I am in the timing of my work. I am privileged to be witness to manufacturing right now, during an era of historic change to both manufacturing technology and the organization of industrial enterprises. In 2025, I expanded the scope of all I do. I continue to report on what I see in manufacturing through my newsletter, The Zelinski Report (launching soon). Meanwhile, I am aiding U.S. manufacturing workforce development by teaming with The Edge Factor, perhaps the most innovative organization at work in this area. And I am serving manufacturing technology companies directly by embedding with some of them, using my abilities and perspective to help them tell their stories, make the case for their technology and capabilities, find their customers, and win the success they deserve. In this work, I have teamed with InnerBark Marketing and the network of talent this industrial B2B agency has developed. 

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The expansion is still new. But what I am finding is something similar to what I discovered when I first put writing and engineering together. Namely, the pieces fit, even if they seem separate. The interconnections improve my understanding and the service I am able to give. And the joy of the work comes from doing it all the different ways I can. 

Thank you for your interest. Contact me here.

Milestones by Decade