Cooking Up Something Good
This week I spent a lot of time running tests and prototyping concepts in Boston Scientific’s engineering lab. The highlight of this week was creating and testing different material coatings for Boston Scientific’s new ureteral stent.
As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I’ve spent a lot of time talking to material scientists and vendors about the possibilities available to us. We confirmed that there were no existing materials from our approved vendor list and we are now collaborating with an existing vendor on researching and developing an acceptable material. In the meantime, we decided that we were knowledgeable enough to conduct some of our own rapid prototyping.
In order to manipulate our material’s physical properties, we added corn flour in varying percentages. That’s right, corn flour… sounds very scientific, doesn’t it? The corn flour alters materials in a very similar way to how a medical grade additive would. We needed to design a “proof of concept” test in order to justify using some more expensive and safe additives. We dip coated four ureteral stents, each one with 5% more corn flour in the mixture, and placed them in the oven over night. The next day we tested their performance by placing them in a measuring tube full of water.
Our samples were very successful and we concluded that adding medical grade additives to our existing material would be a feasible and effective design concept. Our next steps will be to prototype using college, a biocompatible and FDA-approved additive, and discussing our findings with the R&D team in Minneapolis. In addition, we need to refine our design specifications by accurately measuring the material’s viscosity, molecular weight and concentration of additive.
Prototyping coating materials for Boston Scientific’s new ureteral stent. (The corn flour is in my left hand.)
The prototypes, with differing levels of additives in the coating, are placed in the oven for several hours to bake.
Taking Initiative
This internship has challenged me to trust my intuition and think independently. I have defined my own projects, networked with employees, and specified my own goals in collaboration with my mentors. Moreover, I have noticed myself becoming more confident and efficient regarding my work over these past five weeks. I no longer have to consult my supervisors about who to contact or what information to share with them. I am able to conduct meetings and design prototyping tests without constant assistance or approval.
A large part of why I am able to learn so much is because of my supervisor. I am very fortunate to have a boss who trusts my judgment and provides me with constructive criticism instead of micromanaging my work. In addition, I really enjoy and learn from our weekly meetings, during which we discuss the projects’ progress and update my goals. I was initially worried that I wouldn’t have enough guidance because Gerardo is a very hardworking and busy man, however I feel we’ve both adapted and created a really great work relationship. I have learned that there is usually more than one correct way to complete a project. There are many angles to tackle tasks from and many steps between the beginning and end of a project. I am lucky to have a supervisor who provides me with the freedom to exercise taking initiative and working independently. I know that these skills will be very valuable for my future career.
Weekend Hikes
This weekend we stayed local and hiked around neighborhoods in our host city, Escazú. We only have two more weekends left!
More friendly neighborhood cows