Image: Clive Long, Senior Mechanical Engineer working in the Mechanical workshop. Credits: ICR
The workshop has evolved greatly over the past 10 years from a traditional mechanical workshop to a high-tech design and manufacturing centre.
The mechanical workshop is fully equipped with many conventional machine tools and an integrated welding shop. The staff have access to modern, computer-aided design tools such as Autodesk Inventor Professional, an XYZ Computer Numerical Controlled milling machine and an Stratasys J5 MediJet rapid prototyping machine.
Examples of projects from our workshop in recent years include 3D models of protein targets and potential drugs to aid our drug discovery scientists, a patented device to slice cancer samples, and models such as ‘AbdoMan’, a 3D-printed torso that has allowed researchers to measure doses of radiopharmaceutical drugs with unprecedented accuracy.
The expert workshop staff are experienced in working in specialist areas such as magnetic resonance imaging, radiotherapy and clinical areas, providing a wide range of specialised knowledge of engineering design and processes, and work closely with other lab and facility managers across the ICR to maintain and repair equipment, supporting our sustainability agenda.
“The ICR workshop take a key role in the development of our experimental set-ups, presenting us with multiple options and helping us optimise our clinical and preclinical procedures.”
Dr Emma Harris
Team Leader, Imaging for Radiotherapy Adaptation
“The Workshop offers a key service to all divisions, both in terms of cost (a machined part from the workshop is a fraction of the price of commercial supplier) and also time – it’s much quicker to get a replacement part made by Craig and his staff than to order one externally, particularly since Brexit and the supply chain issues it has created.”
Angus MacGregor
Laboratory Manager of Cancer Biology Directorate
For more information, contact Craig Cummings, Research and Design Workshop Manager, or [email protected].