R&D engineering internship with Byrne Medical Incorporated

Abstract

This record of study describes work done in the capacity of Research and Development (R&D) Engineer at Byrne Medical Incorporated, Conroe, TX. The company manufactures accessories used for endoscopic irrigation. The endoscopy system requires a supply of pressurized distilled water that is used by the physician for certain procedures. It becomes the responsibility of the irrigation subsystem to fulfill this need. It consists of a pressurization system, distilled water holder, tubing to convey this to the endoscope and fittings to interface the tubing to the endoscope body. Byrne Medical Inc. manufactures products from every stage of the system for many of the larger endoscope manufacturers. As an R&D Engineer, I was placed in the operations facility to aid the engineering team in its role to develop, test, prototype and refine products. In performing this role, I had to work with managers and staff from different functional areas of the company. Projects did not stop with technical design; they called for effective communication, planning and decision making. This document covers salient projects completed during the course of the internship. Designing an endoscopic irrigation pump to be sold in conjunction with an instrument cart was one. An automated measurement system comprising of instrumentation interfaced with a personal computer and LabVIEW software is another. To facilitate assembly, tools to insert plastic components into extruded tubes were designed in SolidWorks. Another project that involved mechanical design and elements of project management was designing a tubeset to be used with an Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) system. This was done by Byrne Medical Inc. for Boston Scientific Corporation, the manufacturers of the core ERCP system. These projects not only called for engineering skills but inputs from other departments and personnel also. Inputs from regulatory affairs, technicians and clean room staff were critical to the success of all these projects.