Invention helps our sick babies
SEVENTEEN years after its creation within the University of Southern Queensland’s engineering faculty, Professor John Grant-Thomson’s medical invention is still attracting accolades.
The Mansell Infant Retrieval System is used to transport 300 premature or critically ill babies in Australia each month, getting them to major hospitals for specialist treatment.
Overseas, it is used in Norway and many areas of Sweden.
The system was recently judged to be a finalist in the Health and Biotechnology category at the Premier of Queensland’s 2017 Export Awards.
USQ Vice-Chancellor Professor Geraldine Mackenzie welcomed Prof Grant-Thomson back to the university, together with nine of his work colleagues (five of who are USQ graduate engineers) for a visit last week.
“In 2000, Professor Grant-Thomson, working with engineering students on a class project, came up with a device that continues to have a global impact,” Prof Mackenzie said.
“I congratulate him on his great success and thank him for his continued contribution to the university.”
Since its conception, more than 25 USQ engineering students have completed projects associated with the device, researching new and appropriate medical technologies.
Prof Grant-Thomson now supervises the system’s manufacture at BAC Technologies in Toowoomba, and said it was a great example of academia and industry collaboration.
“By working together, we’ve augmented a learning experience between theory and practice with a commercial realisation outcome,” Prof Grant-Thomson said.
The Premier of Queensland’s Export Awards is an annual program open to all Queensland exporters, large and small, regional and metropolitan. It’s designed to acknowledge the contribution of exporting businesses to the state’s economy.