Medical Device Expert Spotlight – James Tolmie

Medical Device Expert Spotlight

At Test Labs, our people are at the heart of what we do, and we’re proud to introduce one of our key team members in this edition of Expert Spotlight – James, our Laboratory Scientist. With a background in English Literature and Creative Writing, James brings a unique blend of creativity and precision to our lab. He’s honed his skills through roles in product testing and quality assurance, having been part of research and development teams.

James is instrumental in designing custom testing solutions and ensuring the accuracy of our data reporting systems.

We invite you to learn more about James.

What do you do at Test Labs?

I am a laboratory scientist, specialising in product testing and material compatibility. I can often be found performing service life tests or highly accelerated life tests on various medical devices. I also maintain the equipment at Test Labs using a database I built from scratch to track everything and keep on top of calibration and servicing.

Where did your interest in science stem from?

Apparently my first word was “wheel”, and from then on it was difficult to stop me from building or breaking things. Predictably, my favourite scientific discipline is physics, although I’ll always need a calculator for anything involving maths.

Have you always wanted to be a Laboratory Scientist?

I’ve always been interested in how things work. Despite this, for a long time I wanted to be involved in the world of publishing, either as an author or an editor. Working as a laboratory scientist is much more fulfilling!

What would your advice be for someone thinking of becoming a Laboratory Scientist?

Find ways to show your interest in whichever fields of technology you find interesting, in both your working and personal life. Curiosity for how things work (and indeed how things break) is key, as is the ability to think of creative solutions using limited resources.

What’s your top tip to manufacturers to keep them compliant?

Don’t get caught out by material compatibility. There are so many devices on the market right now that have been practically dissolved by post-pandemic cleaning practices, and that means it’s going to be very difficult to back up service life claims. It’s time to try out new materials and to update instructions for use!

What do you love most about your job?

Most of the studies I’m involved with require customising existing test methods to fit whatever we’re testing. The challenge and the variety that comes with this keeps me on my toes and lets me learn new skills, especially when it means I get to build a new test rig.

Sometimes the new skills are in the realm of mechanical or electrical engineering, other times they are more theoretical. There have been three separate projects where I’ve had to learn a new programming language!

What do you get up to when you’re not testing and analysing medical devices?

Every year my family and I will save up to go on holiday in the middle of nowhere in France or Germany or somewhere else easy to drive to in Europe. It’s become tradition to find and visit the oddest museums we can: last year it was a mushroom museum inside a network of natural caves!

I’m a big nerd, so I love to play tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons. I also have two guinea pigs, neither of whom are fans of D&D and think my time would be better spent giving them extra cabbage.