CAD
teacher gets a lesson in cost effective product  development
Neil English, an engineering teacher at both Litchfield High School
and Tunxis Community College, knew he would become better at teaching
engineering by seeing how it’s done in the real world. So
joining the team at Becton Dickinson in Canaan, CT this summer as
a teacher extern was a natural fit.
“The idea of getting immersed in a manufacturing environment
was very refreshing for me,” he reflected. “I had a
lot of notions, some true and some not so true. Now as I teach,
I can deal with actual facts as opposed to supposition,” he
concluded.
Becton Dickinson (BD) is a leading global supplier of medical supplies,
including syringes. BD's Canaan, CT facility manufactures medical
syringes in high volume production operations. The manufacturing
process requires specialized machinery to assemble and package the
syringe product. Canaan’s Technology Innovation Center is
charged with the responsibility of providing process technology
that will carry both Canaan and other BD Plants into the future.
English became part of a TIC project team that allowed him to see
how a new machine design was being developed, and how it contrasted
with the prior design from both performance and efficiency perspectives.
“We had to come up with a new solution for a replacement
of a machine using
hydraulics,” English declared. “The hydraulic system
was expensive to operate and difficult to maintain, ultimately the
source of significant downtime.”
As part of the team, English was shown the plans using solid modeling – a
way of designing a product using 3-D computer software, which enables
the engineer to see the finished product on a computer screen. “This
was great for me as I teach solid modeling,” he said. Not
only did he view the finished product electronically, but he worked
with a team member who showed him the cost analysis and how that
affected materials used.
“I was fascinated with learning about picking the different
machining methods to make the parts and how that makes a difference
in how fast a machine operates and how that affects costs. I was
also surprised to learn about how companies farm out their work
to different companies who make parts for them to assemble.
Once the machine was put together based on the 3-D computer design,
English got to help test the finished product by revisiting the
company this summer.
“It was a real pleasure having Neil with us,” cited
Andy Summerville, manager of Engineering at BD who was Neil’s
supervisor. “As a company we are very concerned about making
linkages to the education community as there is a lot of misinformation
out there about the manufacturing industry. We’re not a sweat
shop. The technology is getting more and more sophisticated and
we want people to know, especially parents, that there are great
opportunities in this new, highly technological manufacturing environment.”
What will English bring back to his students? “I’ve
learned that you can take a product that’s already there and
improve upon its design without having to reinvent the wheel. I
found that it’s important to find something that meets your
needs and then you can adapt it to your production. I’m going
to have my students think about the machine’s ability, how
they are going to make a new product from it, and if there is a
better way to make it that can save money.”
He says he also has a better understanding of what a good design
engineer does. “He or she has to think about the final product.
You always have to think beyond where you are, you have to ‘pre-visualize’.
Engineering is not just a science, but it’s an art as well,” he
observed.
How did he feel about his sponsor company? “BD’s engineering
team welcomed me with open arms. I became a colleague and they shared
their experiences and their trails and tribulations. Even on the
last day there, I said good bye to someone I didn’t know that
well, and he opened up his computer to show me what he was doing.
It was just incredible.”
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