Next in our Hang out with Haughton series, we chat to Senior Design Development Engineer, John. Holding a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Product Design as well as certificates in Project Management and UX Design, John is an advocate of user-centred design and finding innovative solutions within regulated fields. John has over a decade of experience within the medical device industry from working as a Design & Development Consultant helping companies to develop innovative medical and consumer devices, to head of Industrial Design at a company developing imaging equipment for early detection of breast cancer.
When it came to deciding what career to follow, I was conflicted: I really enjoyed the world of maths and science but had a passion for fine art (particularly sculpture) and believed that the two professions were at odds with one another. It was only when I went to a Ross Lovegrove exhibition that I discovered that there was a profession that fused maths and science with art: Design Engineering.
The week starts with a team meeting to discuss progress on open projects, the important milestones coming up and some of the challenges that we are facing. I will then plan my week out using a time-blocking technique. Depending on the nature and phases of projects, the week will be filled with brainstorming sessions, client meetings, project management tasks, design, and engineering work.
As the head of systems and the quality manager for the company, I also spend a fair amount of time during the week maintaining the company’s CAPA log as well as arranging team training and looking for ways to make the system and our procedures more efficient.
Although the projects that we work on are diverse and pose their own unique set of problems, our problem-solving techniques are transferable and allow us to hit the ground running, even if it is a brand-new technology that we are developing.
Knowing your teammates’ strengths is a strong start. This will allow you to assign the best person suited to a particular task. From there it is all about high quality and regular communication.
I believe in failing fast: have a really thorough understanding of the assumptions you have made and test these assumptions at the earliest chance possible, usually through prototyping.
We worked on a phase zero medical implant. The challenging nature of the problem forced us to think way outside of the box. The project also gave us the chance to explore fascinating materials such as shape-memory alloys.
What is Vacuum Casting, how does it work and how can it benefit the product and medical device prototyping process? The vacuum casting process is very similar to the plastic injection moulding process...
I believe in failing fast: have a really thorough understanding of the assumptions you have made and test these assumptions at the earliest chance possible, usually through prototyping....
A connected medical device is one that forms part of the Internet-of-Medical-Things [IoMT] ecosystem. The IoMT ecosystem facilitates the collection, analysis, and transmission of health data so aims t...
Next in our user series, we chat to Tayla Collinson, a 27-year-old who manages a number of chronic conditions and is currently living with a suprapubic catheter. ...
"Once you ae chartered that is not the end of your education, there will always be new technologies and skills to learn about and apply". This week we chatted to Lead Design Engineer, Jack about his r...
“The more you design things, the more you look at the products around you and wonder how they’ve been made, what the design process must’ve been and question why they designed it like that, and ...
Despite regularly working on a variety of product and medical device projects, there are always improvements to be made and taking the time to really understand user needs is often a crucial piece to ...
This week, Design Manager, Mark shares what attracted him to design & engineering, a typical work week and the biggest challenges he faces in his role as well as insight into the tools he uses to plan...
Developing drug delivery platforms and medical devices can be labour intensive and a frustratingly lengthy process, even for the simplest of devices. Here at Haughton Design, we have worked hard on op...
User experience and human centred considerations can, and should, be applied to the design and features of all medical devices – it’s just that they sometimes aren’t. While its paramount that a...
Recently, we introduced Design Development Engineer, Danny Morris as our Mental Health First Aider. Danny was keen to take up this role at HD recognising that Mental Health impacts us all whether that...
Although they differ in finer detail, both the European and U.S. regulatory laws discuss Design Controls. Failure to comply with these laws can result in a series of penalties including your device be...
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to work in a design consultancy? To kick start our Hang out with Haughton – Meet the Teamseries, we chatted with one of our Design Development Engineers, Dan...
The medical sector is at the forefront of technical possibility; it seeks to constantly improve people’s lives and improve the health of the world. Life expectancy has increased dramatically over th...
At Haughton Design, we commonly have the problem of generating too many solutions and concepts, rather than too few. Because of this, we’ve honed our concept selection criteria over the years and ar...
In a fast-paced environment that requires creativity and daily problem solving it can be easy to forget yesterday’s wins, let alone what’s gone on as we approach twelve months of the pandemic. How...
