Simon Halsey - Medical Engineering Design

Simon Halsey is a design engineer working for Bath Institute of Medical Engineering (BIME), a design and development charity working in the fields of medicine, heatlhcare and assistive technology for disabled people. BIME is based within the Royal United Hospital Bath and works closely with the NHS as well as with a wide range of commercial companies.

Simon’s degree was in mechanical engineering including a research masters, and he went straight into a job with an industrial engineering company. But it didn’t give him the job satisfaction he craved, so he rethought his career and joined BIME. The charity bridges the gap between one-off design solutions for individual patients and mass retail, and comes up with, and sometimes manufactures, products that are desperately needed by patients but which have a limited market.

Simon really enjoys what he does. “This job allows you to see a whole engineering project through to competition and also involves people”.

Design engineers help come up with solutions to problems. For instance, orthopaedic surgeons wanted something that kept finger bones stable after a break, but which did not obscure the bone during the frequent X rays taken to check the progress of an injury. So Simon developed a novel plastic device to do the job. Other NHS requests include designing instruments for keyhole surgery. BIME works with NHS Innovation Hubs which champion the cause of healthcare innovation and identity, develop and commercialise innovations and intellectual property created by NHS staff.

The project that has given Simon most satisfaction has been designing a paediatric wheelchair called Wizzybug, which is aimed at very young children. There is growing evidence that independent mobility is key to a child’s development in early years. But in the past, pre-school children have had very limited access to mobility devices because of the problems that had in controlling them. Designing something they were able to manage was a real challenge but Wizzybugs are already a big hit with children around the country.

 

Profile courtesy of Chief Scientific Officer, Department of Health - Professor Sue Hill