Within industrial design firms and in-house design teams, ID'ers often collaborate with mechanical engineers. Why not introduce them to each other earlier? A recent project at Auburn University did just that, to great success. The school partnered with KYRA, a medical equipment manufacturer, to task an ID and ME student team with designing a surgical device.

During arthoscopic surgeries, the surgical sites are kept clean by a flow of saline solution delivered from hanging ID bags. When the bags begin to reach empty, an alarm sounds, and a nurse must quickly swap the bag for a fresh one. Both the alarm and the bag-changing add an element of chaos to the proceedings and can distract the surgeon.

To address this, the students designed a device that automatically switches to a fresh bag as each one empties. "It provides a non-disruptive means of managing and monitoring the fluid for surgical procedures," ID professor Shea Tillman explains.

If you're wondering how students were entrusted with designing a surgical device: KYRA's president, CEO and co-founder Howard Miller is an Auburn alumnus. By chance he ran into Steve Taylor, Auburn's Senior Vice President for Research and Development, and the two began to talk. With 30 years' experience in the field, Miller understands the importance of both ME and ID in medical device design, and suggested having students from both departments collaborate on the project.

"it was incredibly rewarding to see the next generation of engineers bringing a real-world medical device all the way from concept to professional unveiling, and it was great to have industrial design included as well," Miller said.

Joseph Freeman, an ME student who worked on the project, agreed. "Working alongside industrial designers from day one was a great learning experience, and I truly believe our success wouldn't have been possible without that integrated approach," he said. "They showed me that usability and ergonomics are just as critical as functionality for a device like this."

The students got to unveil their device at this year's Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses' (AORN) conference in Boston.

Here's to hoping more schools with both ME and ID combine their departments on real-world projects like this. Practitioners of the two disciplines can only benefit by learning, early on, how to collaborate.