Gemma Singer is a senior design engineer at impact start-up, mOm Incubators, where she is currently working on their new neonatal incubator. Gemma studied for her master’s degree in mechanical engineering at Imperial College London before going into the medical device industry, initially spending three years working at De Soutter Medical designing power tools for orthopaedic surgery before moving into neonatal technology. In 2022 Gemma was shortlisted for Design Engineer of the Year at the British Engineering Excellence Awards.
“Language and communication are the unsung heroes of engineering. Being able to communicate well with end users and stakeholders means you have a better understanding of the problems you’re trying to solve.”
Increasing access to life-improving and lifesaving technology all around the world
I went to Imperial College London to do an MEng in mechanical engineering and then went straight into the medical device industry.
I spent three years at De Soutter Medical designing power tools for orthopaedic surgery and then, in 2018, moved to mOm Incubators, an impact start-up, where I have been working on a new neonatal incubator with the aim of to increasing access to this life-improving and lifesaving technology all around the world.
This year, I was honoured to be shortlisted for Design Engineer of the Year at the British Engineering Excellence Awards and also received my Chartership from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.
Rethinking how neonatal care is provided, no matter where you are in the world
My job role has followed the development of the recently launched mOm Essential Incubator and so my day-to-day has changed over the development journey. At mOm, our ambition is to rethink how neonatal care can be provided no matter where you are in the world.
When I first joined, I spent most of my days coming up with concepts, prototyping and testing. It gradually moved more into risk management and creating documentation to meet regulatory requirements – which is a big deal in the world of medical devices!
My main focus now is product development, so there are lots of days spent creating technical drawings and component specifications and liaising with the manufacturers. Some days it’s spent outlining development projects, refining our understanding of user needs and translating that into new product specifications. Other days are filled with report writing to document design decisions so that the design process is fully traceable
A strong sense of purpose and motivation in life is a beautiful thing
I think of engineering as a tool, a tool to be used to achieve things, and a tool can feel quite dull without a purpose. Working in the medical device industry, designing equipment for emergency sternotomies or accessible neonatal thermoregulation, things that could save lives, suddenly makes engineering super exciting!
Focusing on projects that contribute to the wider public good gives me a strong sense of purpose and motivation and I think that can be a really beautiful thing to have in life.
Language and communication, the unsung heroes of engineering
COVID-19 definitely turned my job on its head! It was challenging doing product design work with limited access to a workshop; even the prototypes were hard to get our hands on as we were couriering them from person to person while we worked from home. It definitely challenged my ability to communicate design verbally.
Language and communication are the unsung heroes of engineering. Being able to communicate well with end users and stakeholders means you have a better understanding of the problems you’re trying to solve. In turn, this means you end up with better feedback when you can discuss design concepts or rationale with people from diverse backgrounds who have a wide variety of technical understanding. This all allows better design decisions and results in better products at the end of the day, so although COVID-19 had its challenges, it also resulted in a lot of growth.
The importance of the International Women in Engineering Day
For the majority of history and in many places across the world women haven’t been able to demonstrate their full talents and have therefore been unable to reach their full potential.
Limits have been placed on what is deemed acceptable or achievable for us. Now, although some of us are lucky enough to live in a time and a place where that isn’t the case, I believe it’s important to fill our history with diverse stories of what is possible, so society can’t forget. Having said that, I think activism comes in many forms and for me, showing up to work as a female engineer like normal will be how I celebrate. Because it should be normal.
Teaching pupils about engineering
A colleague told me about the ‘I’m an Engineer, Get me out of here!’ scheme and I signed up there and then because it seemed like such a cool concept. It involves chatting live with classes of pupils, who could type in all their questions and get an immediate response all about what it’s like to be an engineer.
It was really fun, some of their questions were really insightful and at times entertainingly direct. (Children ask the best questions!) Each chat would last about 45 minutes and the time would fly by!
Let’s continue making a big difference!
At mOm, we have just launched our first neonatal incubator and the company is transforming and growing. I’m excited about the next challenges.
I’m also super curious to further explore how we can incorporate sustainability into medical devices, which traditionally hasn’t been prioritised. We have some great projects planned and I can’t wait to get stuck in. I think we can make a big difference!
