CLIENT'S EXPECTATION & JOB DESCRIPTION

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During our initial meeting with the client, they could not provide us with sufficient details of the instrument due to legal aspects being considered to patent the instrument design they had designed. Based on the concept elaborated to us, we started with phase one of the project.
 

Phase 1

Having a diverse team helped us to cover all the aspect of the project in detail. One of our team members, Sohaima Mabroora, who has a strong biology background, helped us understand Cardiology basics since our project was related to a cardiac patch delivery system. The mechanical engineers in our team had a hard time understanding the medical concepts to be considered. However, due to an efficient team effort, everyone understood the vital functionalities of the heart and the blood flow procedures. We also familiarised ourselves with the common heart problems that would require the use of the cardiac patch. As a team, we also looked into various delivery techniques during cardiac surgery, including open heart surgery and minimally invasive robotic surgery.
 

Phase 2

Based on the client's concept for the working of the instrument, it was becoming difficult for the team to visualise it since not all of us had a previous work experience or strong knowledge in the field of mechanical designing. Two of our group members, Huy M. Nguyen and Abinas Rai, had a good experience with SolidWorks and demonstrated a few essential tools that anyone can access using this software. This session helped all the team members understand how to visualise any given design in a better way. To increase productivity, we also had every one of our members try hands on this software and design any object they desire. This activity helped our team to become more efficient towards product development.
 

Phase 3

As the project progressed, we were to design a control system to manipulate the robotic surgical instrument. Gautam Iyer, having previous experience working in a similar product development line provided the team with the basic functionalities of different electrical and electronic software such as Arduino. This session was based on having the entire team on board for understanding the necessary codes being used in Arduino and how to simulate the control system is free software like Tinker CAD. To possibly execute these simulations,
 

Different ideas and concepts were brainstormed during the progress of the project. Providing constant support and constructive feedback on improving the concept ideas, was our team member Nan Zhao (Tim). The team needed to have back-up research on which equipment or mechanical part is best used. This information was provided by Anuj Kumar, who was able to provide with proof of literature review and conducting relevant and related research.
 

Any team would perform more effectively when there are people who are creative and keeps the entire group engaged via their activities. In our team, we have Sohaima Mabroora, Tina Pun and Xinhang Liu (Natalie), who are always on their toes when executing a team activity. Natalie and Sohaima were responsible for creating a physical prototype of Umbrella design using ordinary stationery things. During the research phase, when the team required the input of designing the robotic instrument, Tina conducted extensive market research and investigated multiple devices and instruments that had similar functionalities of our desired end product. The possible risks and methods to mitigate she also identified it. This information helped the team to improve the design of the instrument during the internship.

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LEARNING CIRCLE

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To achieve productive work during the internship, a group effort must be described to link with the progress of the project with efficient teamwork.

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The Learning Circle has been introduced within our team to share knowledge. This platform helps the entire team to remain on the same page when it comes to project progress. The strength of the entire team depends on when we back each other up.

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Cardio Instrumentation is a team comprising undergraduates and postgraduates students pursuing Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering from University of Technology Sydney. The project we are handling can be categorised under Biomechanics. Being a diverse group with varied academic and cultural backgrounds, understanding every individual's core strengths and weaknesses is essential.

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To progress as a team, it is very much important to understand each other to work collaboratively. Having background knowledge of medical technology and the mechanical aspects is very much crucial in this project. This platform is intended for such purposes.

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TRANSFERABLE SKILLS DEVELOPED

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On the first day of our internship, all our team members were unknown faces and had interacted like strangers. After ten weeks of working together, we have become a family which we call Cardio Instrumentation. This internship has taught us more than technical knowledge. We have identified each other's strength and weaknesses. We have helped each other overcome our weaknesses, and towards the end of this internship, we have all realised the real value of being an engineering consultant.

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At Optik Engineering Consultancy, we have learnt more than just technical skills. We have learnt what Teamwork is. There were times when we had internal team disagreements, but we tried to understand what this person is going through and acted accordingly rather than reacting to the situation. This approach helped the team to avoid any internal conflicts. No matter the situation, our team has always stood together both reasonably and at bad times. When many of our colleagues made fun of us for proceeding with the project without having complete details from our client, we hustled our way through. Not only were the clients impressed by the progress being made, but they also had words of appreciation towards our team pulling this project through in ten weeks.

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Presentation skills require the right way of communicating with your audience. Our team leadership paved the way to involve each group member to deliver a mock presentation every fortnight. We believe that this internship allowed us to overcome the public speaking fear we had in ourselves. At the beginning of this internship, none of us was confident enough to present our work to our colleagues, but today, with our employers' constant support at Optik Engineering Consultancy, we can present our work in a well-structured manner.

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Progressing with a project within ten weeks from just a concept idea to produce a prototype with sufficient research investigation seems to be a bit overwhelming. However, during our internship period, our team achieved this due to an efficient Time management structure. Planning your project accordingly and progressing in a structured manner with regular updates to each of the teammates, can make the impossible happen. Under a good leadership and continuous team effort, any group will achieve the progress that we made through. With an extra bit of dedication towards your work and no reduced enthusiasm are the most significant contributors for our achievement till date.

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Optik Engineering Consultancy also provided us with a platform to Network & Connect with our clients and other industry individuals. Our employers had arranged for the previous interns to visit the existing teams and have a constructive conversation about how this internship assisted through their career phase. These were few of the inspiring conversations that motivated us to keep going forward no matter the situation. Everyone learns by mistakes, and this is what we were here to learn.

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This project also helped our team members become more Creative Thinkers due to the project's sophistication. Our leadership was based on the concept, "Every Engineer has an opportunity to provide innovative solutions to the benefit of society and community. So rather than being a nine to five desk job engineer, why not provide our clients with something more interesting." Many of the subjects we learned during our bachelor's or master's course were being applied as part of this project. To name a few, design thinking and innovation fundamentals, judgement and decision making, leadership and responsibility, risk management in engineering, and since this is a medical delivery device project we were also able to apply our knowledge of biomedical industry frameworks that involved the regulatory aspects in considering when developing this project.

 

During this internship, multiple resources were used to develop our transferable skills. Due to the on-going global pandemic, we were instructed to work three days from office and the remainder of two days we had to coordinate online. For effective communication, we used Microsoft Teams. This platform was easy for the entire team to be coordinate and communicate throughout the internship. Additionally, this platform was better for all of us to exchange resource files and other documents. Other Microsoft tools like Excel and Office were used to develop the Team charter and Powerpoint presentation, respectively.

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Our team used Trello board as a project management tool that helped the entire team update and maps their work virtually. We used SolidWorks software for design development and Tinker CAD for simulating our project online. Grab CAD was used to download a few intricate mechanical designs. Both Tinker CAD and Grab CAD are free online tools for students. Tinker CAD helped our team produce a simulation of the control system for our project.