• Question: How does your work benefit the community?

    Asked by laceyc to Amit, Emily, Joanne, Martin, Paige on 14 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Emily Bullen

      Emily Bullen answered on 11 Mar 2012:

      I think there are 2 answers to that: one is that my company aims to make a difference to people who are very sick. That’s quite hard as all the easy things have already been done. Also, there are very strict rules before a new medicine can be sold. 
      More locally, my company also encourages us to help the community. They let me spend working time with school kids like you to tell you all about science and what we do. They adopt a charity and encourage us to fundraise for it. They’ll also match anything we raise for our own chosen charities.

    • Photo: Amit Pujari

      Amit Pujari answered on 11 Mar 2012:

      In this sense I feel quite privileged as my work directly benefits the community.
      Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (http://www.imbe.leeds.ac.uk/), where I work; we try to improve artificial joints. People have problems with their joints for example knee joint, hip joint or spinal joint. These problems may occur because of disease, accident or simply due to getting older. When people’s natural joints get damaged or they do not work, they can be replaced by an artificial joint. Otherwise with damaged joint person may not be able to move, walk properly. They might have severe pain.

      We work to develop better artificial joints. We work to make sure that artificial joint works like natural one. So that the person with an artificial joint should have less or no pain. We work to make sure that, the artificial joint will allow that person to walk and do other activities normally.

      We also go to various schools to talk to school kids like you. Tell them about how bones work? How artificial joints work and much more….

    • Photo: Joanne Davies

      Joanne Davies answered on 13 Mar 2012:

      Hello laceyc. 🙂 My work benefits sick people in the community because I make sure that people suffering from cancer have the opportunity to get the treatment they need to make them better, using our medical devices. 🙂

      This is a benefit to everyone especially their friends and families.

      Another great question. Thank you.

    • Photo: Martin Wallace

      Martin Wallace answered on 14 Mar 2012:

      Some of the products we make are specifically designed to go into residential care homes and into people’s houses. When patients are recovering from an illness or an operation, sometimes they are well enough to go home, but need certain things to help them in their daily life. We make all sorts of beds, hoists, walking aids, commodes, and other things that people need to make their life more comfortable. They may not be the most glamourous or exciting products, but I think they are some of the most important as they help people to live a normal life who might otherwise struggle with simple daily tasks.

    • Photo: Paige Brown

      Paige Brown answered on 18 Mar 2012:

      Very good question!

      I think that my work benefits the community by bringing scientists together with other scientists, students, engineers, and non-scientists alike. I love blogging about science through my blog at Nature Network… I get many students and other individuals commenting on my blog and enjoying it as a place where they can learn about complex science in simple terms. I hope that my work continues to bring scientists and young students together in my local community and across the world!

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