What initially attracted you to the medtech industry? How has your perspective on the industry evolved over the course of your career?
There is no room for error in MedTech and that is an exciting proposition because it means my work in this area is meant to keep people safe, well and healthy.
What emerging technologies or trends do you believe will have the most significant impact?
As a quality engineer, AI has been instrumental in helping me get extremely precise in vetting vendors and comparing their pluses and minuses with one another.
From your experience, what are some of the key challenges that medtech engineers are likely to face in the coming years?
MedTech engineers are often tasked with competing priorities. Everything is important, so the challenges are often how to prioritize amid a host of collaborations all equally worthy of my time and attention.
How can professionals in the industry prepare for and navigate these challenges effectively?
It’s important that each project be the shared responsibility of many scientific professionals to ensure collaborations are given their proper due, but while evening the load across various competencies.
In your opinion, what areas or applications within medtech have the greatest potential for growth and innovation?
I love making the once impossible. Surgical robotics comes to mind. I love it when we get drawings from robotics makers that are struggling to find partners who can and want to make the smallest, toughest components.
Why do you consider them promising?
Surgical robotics reduces hospitalizations, mitigates the risks of complications and restores quality of life quicker. It’s hard to think of something more promising than that.
As technology continues to advance rapidly, how do you think medtech engineers can stay ahead of the curve and ensure they are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge?
Continuing education is critical. I take it upon myself to study new and evolving best practices and acquire the certifications central to my role as quality engineer. I believe firmly that it is incumbent upon us to always acquire new certs and skills, which make me a better steward to our customers.
Considering the increasing importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, how do you think medtech engineers can effectively collaborate with professionals from other fields, such as medicine and computer science, to drive innovation in the industry?
Being an engineer means I am placed in the unique position daily to innovate – to come up with a better way. The varying disciplines represented in the manufacturer of such tech wonders means we’re all chasing a better idea daily. When these people assemble throughout the duration of a project, like those I see each day, the potential for innovation is explosive.
How do you think diversity and inclusion can contribute to the advancement of medtech engineering?
As a quality engineer who was born, raised and studied in India, I can personally testify to the net positive of inclusion and diversity in MedTech. It’s an exciting notion to think that our unique, personal experiences can lend to our problem-solving skillsets because it means we’re stretching the bounds of our education with personal, often cultural, experiences.
How do you foster a culture of innovation within your team or organization?
As a quality engineer, I always need to ask, “why?” In my view, it is imperative to question what you’re seeing and learning. A culture that prioritizes the “why” is a culture that will break new ground often.