Industrial design class gains medical device insights
Thursday, April 24, 2025
Photos by Catherine A. Krawiec, industrial design instructor
Globus Medical Senior Brand Manager Grace Rieck gives the visiting Penn College industrial design students a hands-on demonstration of the ExcelsiusGPS robot for spine applications.
A group of industrial design students from Pennsylvania College of Technology recently toured Globus Medical, a leading orthopedic medical device company headquartered in Audubon. The students are enrolled in their major’s Medical Device Design class, taught by instructor Catherine A. Krawiec, a former employee of Globus Medical’s spine division.
The tour was facilitated by Mike Blake, the company’s talent acquisition partner, and included presentations and tours by project engineers, test engineers, product managers and machinists. The Globus Medical employees gave the students hands-on demonstrations of products including the ExcelsiusGPS surgical robot, spinal implants and knee arthroplasty (knee replacement) implants.
“Product development presentations discussed the nuanced landscape of medical device design, evaluation and regulatory submission,” Krawiec explained. “Facility tours showed off the mechanical testing lab, prototype machine shop and bioskills cadaver lab, giving students a glimpse into the real-life application of medical device design principles they’ve been discussing in class.”
The students appreciated Blake’s expertise and that of his colleagues Grace Rieck, senior brand manager; Jason Zappacosta, staff project engineer; Sarah Wolverton, senior product manager; Steven Steijn, test engineer; and model makers/machinists Jim Himmelberger and Gabe Messersmith.
Globus Medical partners with Penn College as one of its Corporate Tomorrow Makers.
Penn College offers a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial design. For more information, contact the School of Engineering Technologies at 570-327-4520.
Industrial design student Aidan Cusanno gets a hands-on demo, using the ExcelsiusGPS surgical robot to plan pedicle screw placement.
Jim Himmelberger (left), a Globus Medical model maker/machinist, shows the college contingent one of the machines used in producing prototype surgical implants and instruments.
Industrial design student Elijah Carlson demonstrates using the ExcelsiusGPS surgical robot to place a pedicle screw under robotic trajectory guidance.