This work week, I completed some of the more real tasks engineers do at a big company. Here are some things we work with in the process development department.

Cross-functional teams. I’ve heard this term plenty before, but there are tons of combinations of skill sets possible on cross-functional teams! On my team, we work with people in Process Development, Quality, and Systems, as well as the people on the production floor, which include the product builders and various contractors and suppliers who help us with the process. It’s neat how closely we all understand each other’s current projects and strengths. I attribute this to three factors: our constant communication throughout the day, our daily Scrum board meetings, and the sheer number of hours our Process Development engineers spend on the production floor. Here’s a picture of me near the production line we are currently validating. Like my engineering mentors, I am starting to spend more time there.

Paperwork. This week, I learned how to do paperwork that would enable me to do more paperwork! Yes, it’s funny, but there really are a lot of forms and standards. The plus side is that standardization eliminates guesswork and makes sure all information is documented. The organization demanded here is what enables efficiency. Thankfully, my mentors are familiar with the systems and help me keep everything straight while I’m still learning.

Powerful data. Even on paperwork-heavy days, we do sometimes get to analyze data. It can be kind of therapeutic to settle down with a spreadsheet full of numbers! I talked about data analysis in last week’s blog, too. What was new this week was sleuthing through data looking for clues about differences between passing and failing lots of material from the same supplier. In this investigation, I sat down with a quality engineer again to peel back the next layer of the proverbial onion that is statistics for data analysis.

Lab work. I shadowed an engineer in the lab this week as she did destructive testing of our guidewire using an Instron. It was great to see how a familiar instrument for getting tensile data was adapted to work with our product.

Soccer. Here’s a short video clip I took of Boston Scientific engineers reacting to Costa Rica’s unexpected goal against Switzerland in their last game in the World Cup. Even though Costa Rica was going to be eliminated, the fans were proud of their team and kept cheering until the end. This reminded me that it’s worth celebrating if you do your best and give an honorable effort. I easily forget this when I’m in the U.S., where the focus seems to be more on the objective outcome.

 

This weekend’s adventure was to Tamarindo beach on the northwest coast of Costa Rica. Five of us took a surfing lesson and it was a blast! We all successfully stood up after just a few tries and got more comfortable with manipulating our boards. I can certainly see myself taking more surfing lessons in the future. The group also visited a beach with shells instead of sand. The bright colors of the shells, ocean, and surrounding mountains made it feel like a fantasy world. All together, we spent an incredible amount of time in the ocean this weekend – good thing lots of us in the GMI enjoy the water!