Medical Device Link.

Originally Published EMDM October 2002

WEB WATCH

PTC/User (www.prouser.org) is an independent, not-for-profit Web site designed to help engineers answer questions they have about software from Parametric Technology Corp. Organized by volunteers from companies that actually work with the products, this page hosts a number of forums where users can discuss their problems with other users. I design with Pro-Engineer software and look at the site for information. It is both accurate and helpful.

McMaster-Carr (www.mcmaster.com) offers one of the widest selections of parts available on the Internet. From fittings to pumps to switches, I can usually find what I'm looking for here and have it shipped from stock. One of the best features of the site is that there are scale drawings of many of the parts, which make it easy to tell if the component will be compatible with the product I'm designing. On-line order tracking also lets me know when the components will arrive.

The Mechanical Designer's Bookmarks page (http://stripe.colorado.edu/~genovaj/Mech_Designers_Bkmrk.htm) is maintained by a member of the faculty at the University of Colorado at Boulder and lists a variety of conversion charts, screw data, and tapping figures that are useful to design engineers. It might be kind of clunky to look at, but I find that the vast information it contains makes it helpful in a number of situations.

Time and Date (www.timeanddate.com) isn't specifically for engineers, but it's a site that I find myself using quite often. I'm required to talk to customers and colleagues around the world as part of my job, and this page helps me communicate effectively by keeping track of the time around the world. Users can create a personalized page or embeddable applet that displays time and date information for up to 16 cities across the globe for quick reference.

Extrusion Dies Inc. (Chippewa Falls, WI, USA; www.extrusiondies.com) designs and builds flat extrusion dies and coating heads for plastics processors and web converters. The company's products can be used to produce blood and solution bags, disposable and surgical kit trays, transdermal patches, adhesive liners, hospital hygiene products, and pharmaceutical and device packaging.

Copyright ©2002 European Medical Device Manufacturer