Week 6:
Exciting Times

July 21, 2021

Microtek is growing quickly. In the six weeks that I’ve been an intern, I’ve seen six new hires and countless interviews. Recently there have been discussions on expanding into a second shift and even a new facility. It’s certainly an exciting time to be at Microtek.

One of Microtek’s goals, as they grow, is to include more biochemistry in their research capabilities. Last week, Phuong and Leah took a step towards this goal by purchasing an autoclave. This week, I was tasked with getting it up and running. Unfortunately, this was not an easy task. After a deep cleaning, several days of troubleshooting, and disassembling the unit, I determined that more professional intervention will be required to get it working.

One thing that makes Microtek special is its emphasis on both product development and small batch production. This is unusual, especially in the microelectronics industry, as companies are generally most successful if choosing to focus on one or the other. However, Microtek is committed to providing unique, innovative solutions and manufacturing enough devices to be used commercially.

That being said, Microtek has numerous ongoing projects in various stages of development. This range of projects has made my time at Microtek particularly valuable as it has given me exposure to every stage of a project’s evolution. However, with so many projects in so many phases, I sometimes struggle to see the contributions and progress being made on each project. Furthermore, when working on SMT or die-attach in the cleanroom, I find it is easy to lose sight of the big picture. But one of the things I most appreciate about the leadership team at Microtek is the emphasis they place on the big picture.

Ultimately, the devices being designed and produced at Microtek are real medical devices used by patients. Although it’s easy to forget, knowing that Microtek is making a difference in healthcare and people’s lives have made my experience exceptionally gratifying.

Because so many of Microtek’s projects have medical applications, I have learned a lot about the standards that must be followed in medical manufacturing. Microtek is ISO 13485 certified, which means that everything done at Microtek complies with international standards for the production of medical devices. To maintain ISO certification, everything from assembly and testing of devices to employee training and facility maintenance is carefully controlled and documented. In addition to the ISO 13485 certification, Microtek maintains an ISO 7 cleanroom with an ESD-safe environment. Working under ISO requirements has been a learning curve because it requires consideration of details that I normally take for granted. For example, pencils cannot be used in the cleanroom because they may introduce additional particles into the air. This week I also learned that certain plastics cannot be used in the cleanroom when Tri turned down a shipment of plastics sharps containers.