Patent Awarded

Applied Technologies, Inc., is pleased to announce that Robert C. Lynch, a Senior Design Engineer at ATI, has been awarded a patent as a co-inventor of the Vortex Metered Dose Inhaler Holding Chamber.  The product had previously been patented in Europe and is currently sold in both Europe and the US.

Among the design features contributed by Robert at ATI are 1) a quick detachment feature at the back of the inhaler for the medication dispenser, 2) a revolutionary single piece double-acting duckbill check valve housed in a detachable cleanable transparent housing and, 3) an aluminum chamber body that reduces static charge building up, thus helping to ensure that the medication is delivered to the patient and not deposited on the walls of the chamber.

Additional information on the Vortex MDI Holding Chamber can be found on our website at http://www.ati-engineers.com/inhaler.html, and the patent (USP No. 7,562,656) can be found on the US Patent and Trademark Office website at http://www.uspto.gov.

Educational Experiences

A key principle at ATI is the notion that our experience in engineering principles and practices are intended to be shared with the next generation of engineers.  We hope that these current and future engineers can benefit from the knowledge we pass on, build on it, and come up with the next great feat of engineering that improves the quality of life for all!

Recently, we hosted a small group (between 10 and 15) of middle school-aged home schooled students in our office in Cary to demonstrate what it is that an engineer does.  We weren’t able to showcase the really cool stuff, like testing power transmission line equipment with 300,000+ Volts, laying miles and miles of fiber optic cables on the ocean floor, or using low-cost medical equipment to improve healthcare in low-income countries.  However, we were able to show them the evidence of it.

After spending some time learning about the design process, materials, and what sort of projects we do here at ATI (which is just about anything under the umbrella of engineering), we demonstrated CAD and even let the students design some of their own on SolidWorks.  After returning home, the students from the Career Exploration Coop (http://careerexplorationcoop.org/) have a better idea of what an engineer does.  There’s always the chance we converted one or two into future engineers as well!

In the past, ATI has engaged in other educational activities for all age groups such as delivering presentations at meetings for engineering-related societies, traveling to instruct professionals in Israel in plastics molding processes, guest lecturing at universities around the state, and even teaching a standalone class at UNC Charlotte.  If you have an educational opportunity in mind or would like to organize something with us, contact Dan at dan@ati-engineers.com to arrange it.

Richard Daniels, Project Engineer

Dan Goes To Chicago

This week, Dan will be attending the Annual Technical Conference of the Society of Plastics Engineers in Chicago.  As a Board Member of the Medical Plastics Division and the Technical Program Committee Chair for the Division’s 2010 Annual Technical Conference, Dan will be attending Divisional Board and Business meetings and receiving training for the TPC roll.  While in Chicago, Dan will be attending the National Plastics Exposition which is being held in conjunction with SPE’s Annual Technical Conference.  Dan has a 40+ year history of plastics materials and applications development; starting with the position of Plastics Engineer at the Dow Chemical Company in the late ‘60’s, followed by 23 years with Thermofil, Inc. achieving the rank of Vice President of Research & Development, and continuing on to today as Founder and President of Applied Technologies, Inc. a 16 year old Product Design and Engineering firm based in Cary, North Carolina; specializing in device development for the medical, industrial, and commercial fields.  Dan can be contacted at dan@ati-engineers.com.

Upcoming Event

ATI will be attending the upcoming Advanced Medical Technologies Networking event being held by Wake County Economic Development. The event is Thursday, June 25 from 5:30-7:30PM.

 

We previously attended the first event held by Wake County Economic Development for Medical Device profesionals in the area and saw both familiar and new faces.  That event was at ArtSpace in March.  We are hoping to see an even larger crowd this time, as it is being held and the Chatham Hill Winery in Morrisville.  Last time the food and drinks were great (and free!), so it should be a good time again.

 

Contact us for more information or if you would like to join us.

 

Richard Daniels, Project Engineer

New Features

As an early step to refreshing the ATI website, www.ati-engineers.com, we have added interesting new content.

First, there is a new industrial case study discussing the handheld barcode/RFID scanner we recently completed.  One of the pictures shown is a great exploded view of the SolidWorks model generated while working on the device, and it gives a little insight into the design process we use.

Also, there is an entirely new section to the website which can be found under “Resources” on the navigation bar.  Right now we have uploaded a unique guide designed to help clients, engineers, or anyone else decide which requirements are important to them when selecting a plastic for an application.

Even more changes are coming up soon, so keep an eye out here for more information and thank you for reading our blog.

Richard Daniels, Project Engineer

Brand New Approach to ATI News

Hello everyone,

As a measure to find a better way to reach out to our clients and provide the information they need, ATI is starting a blog here for you to follow.  This will serve the function that the news page on our website previously had, though we plan to include even more and better information here.  We look forward to new followers and encourage comments, questions, or otherwise right here or at our email, info@ati-engineers.com

Richard Daniels, Project Engineer