The Engineer’s Dilemma

Engineers get things done.  Elegantly, from the Oxford Dictionary, the definition of “engineering” is “the action of working artfully to bring something about”.  Training in engineering is often broad and multi-disciplinary.  The entire concept is to work within worldly constraints, to understand the limitations surrounding you, and understanding these limitations still … to get it done.

Given the right amount of training and the bias that the world is your oyster, the engineer can feel there is nothing that is beyond their training and ability.

It is this bias that is the downfall of many in engineering, including myself.

Engineers often suffer from the reverse of logic.   Who wouldn’t want to work smarter and not harder … well … often an engineer …

Having an infinite number of monkeys typing on an infinite number of keyboards, of course it’s only a matter of time before all of Shakespeare’s sonnets are reproduced.

Let’s work within the premise that seldom are we offered an infinite amount of time to complete a project.  

Let’s understand that there will always be those smarter, those who have more extensive learning experiences, and those outside of engineering who have life experiences that bring intelligence and relevance.

And the bane of the stereotyped engineer is … that social interaction is not a requirement of the job.

Some self-deprecating observances …

• You know you’ve really made a connection to an engineer when they stop staring at their shoes.
• You can always tell an engineer … you just can’t tell them much.
• There are 10 types of engineer … those who understand binary and those who don’t.
• Looking for a mate in the engineering field … the odds are good but the goods are odd.

The road to success is paved with good intentions.  But the summary of success … create the best results, with the least effort, injuring the fewest number of people.

And more humor from Reddit… the majority of the problems in engineering can be solved with just Duct tape and WD-40.

Lifesaving Software Technology, World Class People

We are living in revolutionary, technological times. The current technology has made our lives more connected, comfortable, efficient, and entertaining. But the technology has also revolutionized medical care! According to Chandrasekaran, Katthula, and Moustakas (2020), roughly 30% of American adults use wearable medical devices (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7600024/). As software and technology continue to improve and specialize, we would only expect this value to increase. 

At Software Technology Group, we have had a long relationship with creating software solutions for medicine and medical devices and complex problems.

To name a few of our project-oriented solutions to complex problems:

• CAPSA Healthcare – medical carts and local and online prescription drug control. Embedded development and links to the cloud.
• Abbott Labs/St. Judes Medical – medical manufacturing software running. Development on multiple manufacturing platforms including wire winding, wire respooling, laser operation, resin coating, and flaw detection.
• EO Flow – Nordic based full development and mobile control of an insulin pump and a patient control interface. Created an FDA submissible software package.
• Pacific Diabetes – Nordic based Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) with mobile controller, ready for clinicals.
• UV Healthgroup – classroom-controlled lighting and bio-filtering using mesh network control and data dissemination.
• USGS – EPSON robot and motor control and hardware integration for a robot, carousel, barcode reader, scale and humidity indicator.
• FiberSonics – laser and fiber optic perimeter security device. Coded in C/C++ and .NET.
• Jory Financial – ATM backend development in Ubuntu to interface to the banking industry and a cash machine front-end.

From pacemakers, auto-ekg analysis, audiometry, behavior diagnostic systems for ADHD, and much more, we have a large number of successfully completed software projects in the medical realm and beyond. Our most recent project involved creating software and firmware solutions for a wearable insulin pump system. The project may have been our most ambitious project to date, given the variables and risk involved.

According to the CDC, diabetes is one of the top ten leading causes of death in the United States. Additionally, diabetes is incurable, meaning that the only solution is to manage the disease and its symptoms (https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/spotlights/diabetes-facts-stats.html). The wearable insulin pump system was designed for easy, safe, and hassle-free diabetes management. The Software Technology Group contributed to the system through creating thorough documentation for the FDA, software for the mobile device used to control the pump, and firmware for the wearable pump itself. As with the prior software projects we have taken on, we are excited to see how our developments will continue to contribute to the future of medical care!