President Morrison recognizes Medicine 3D lab technician for exceptional service
When visitors step into the MUNMED 3D lab at the Faculty of Medicine, they often assume a team of specialists is hard at work behind the scenes.
In reality, the operation is driven by the ingenuity, persistence and curiosity of Thomas Osmond, the lab檚 sole technician and newest recipient of the President檚 Award for Exemplary Service (Champion of Service).
Problem solving hub
Mr. Osmond檚 journey into 3D printing began during a co-operative education work term during his mechanical engineering (biomedical stream) degree at 91亚色.
淢y second work term was in Finland, and it was my first exposure to 3D printing, he said. 淏ut all of my work terms had a bit of a design element, and those experiences led me to this lab.
Mr. Osmond joined the Faculty of Medicine in early 2023 and has since built the lab檚 reputation as a creative problem-solving hub.
淸Thomas] has already garnered a reputation for his commitment to learning, research, sustainability and outreach.
Requests from faculty, staff, learners or external organizations can come at any time and with varying levels of complexity.
淭he first thing I usually tell people is 楽ure, no problem. I can do that,櫇 he said. 淭hen I spend the next month trying to figure out how I檓 going to do the impossible. But it檚 worked out for me so far.
Bringing thought to life
His projects often involve extensive research, such as a request to make models of the human heart and eye.
淢echanical engineering lends itself well to medicine, as the musculoskeletal system is basically a mechanical system. But I檒l spend a lot of time getting up to speed on the structures they want me to replicate. Then I檒l think about which materials to use and test a few to see what works best.
With feedback from his clients between each iteration, Mr. Osmond can eventually craft a successful design.
That doesn檛 mean, however, that the process is always easy.
淎 lot of the requests are very open-ended, he said. 淪ometimes people come to me with a model of something expensive that they are wondering if I can make cheaper. Other times, they don檛 exactly know what they want or are imagining something that doesn檛 exist. It檚 challenging to bring people檚 thoughts to life.
楬onoured and privileged
Dr. Patricia Cousins, Mr. Osmond檚 supervisor and manager of the faculty檚 Medical Laboratories and Clinical Learning and Simulation Centre, says Mr. Osmond champions learners, faculty and staff.
淗is personality and technical abilities have garnered trust from those who share their ideas and often intellectual property to make a successful project come to fruition, she said. 淗e is at a young point in his career, and he has already garnered a reputation for his commitment to learning, research, sustainability and outreach.
For his part, Mr. Osmond says he was 渉onoured and privileged to find out he was going to be recognized for his work.
淚t檚 very meaningful and it檚 certainly made me feel a lot more confident in the work I檝e been doing.