Integrated Graphene Meet the Team: No.17 - Greig McLay, Development Engineer
Author: Caitlin Ho
Today, we're delighted to introduce Greig McLay, our Development Engineer. Greig works in our Product Integration and System Engineering team and takes responsibility for the management and development of multiple bespoke medical diagnostics projects for external customers.
Q: Where are you from and what is your professional background?
GM: I grew up in Musselburgh on the East coast of Scotland before I moved to Glasgow for University where I have now lived for seven and a half years. I studied MEng Biomedical Engineering at the University of Glasgow where I learned and gained an interest in how physics and engineering principles can be applied for the betterment of human health. Immediately after graduating in 2019, I joined Integrated Graphene to pursue my interests in healthcare engineering via the opportunity to develop bespoke medical diagnostic devices. I joined the company just as it was exiting the start-up phase so I have been able to see, first-hand, how quickly and impressively it has grown. During my time at Integrated Graphene, I have been fortunate to work on and now manage multiple different customer projects, each with their unique challenges, which has rapidly developed my professional skills.
Q: What does a day on the job look like for you?
GM: Every day can be completely different depending on the requirements and the stage of the ongoing projects. We offer a complete 'start-to-finish- service for the customers that we develop medical devices for, so tasks can vary significantly. During the early phases of a project, I may be scoping out the requirements and developing the initial concepts for the device. As the project progresses, the concepts will be developed in CAD software and prototyped using our wide range of in-house manufacturing tools. We test all the devices that we produce to ensure that they meet the functional requirements set out by our customers. In addition to the product development side of each project, I also take responsibility for the smooth running of the projects by performing management tasks such as overseeing deadlines and project finances as well as communicating regular updates to our customers. All in all, the job can be incredibly varied and it is this variation and exposure to new and different tasks that I enjoy in my role.
Q: What are you most looking forward to in 2022?
GM: I am looking forward to the continuation and completion of our ongoing projects! The existing customer project that is currently active is on track to be launched as a full product in Q4 later this year. To see a product that has been developed from scratch turned into a fully commercial product will be incredibly rewarding.
Q: How do you see graphene changing the world?
GM: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the everyday lives of people all around the globe. One aspect that has been highlighted as a result of the pandemic is the importance of rapid, point-of-care (POC) diagnostics in the detection and management of infectious diseases. The use of graphene in rapid POC diagnostics devices will be the next step forward in this industry due to the ability to enable lower limits of detection at comparably cheaper costs. This will enable the rollout of highly accurate POC devices on a much wider scale, improving the detection of health issues, especially in developing regions where access to laboratory testing is limited.
Thank you for the insight, Greig!
Stay tuned for more meet the team interviews
If you have a project you would like to discuss with Greig or one of his colleagues, then please get in touch today.