UK Students Tour Seattle Systems

By Tami Jayne Jackson

Salford University Salford University student Jonathon "Jon" Pini (center) presents a "thank you" photo to Dave Hensley, CP, FAAOP (left) and Kaia Halvorson, CPO. The print shows a photo of a Salford building with people shielding themselves from rain with umbrellas and hats.

English, Welsh, and Scottish accents filled the air July 2 as Seattle Systems, Poulsbo, Washington, welcomed ten students and two instructors from the University of Salford in the United Kingdom, along with 12 students from the University of Washington and John Fergason, CPO, head, Division of Prosthetics-Orthotics.

The group from the UK had traveled more than 4,600 miles to visit North American O&P programs, companies, and facilities. This was the first time ever that O&P students from Salford University, located in Greater Manchester, had visited Seattle Systems. The University of Washington senior students tour annually, but this year was much different for Fergason's group, since Seattle Systems has grown so rapidly. The manufacturing plant now occupies almost 100,000 square feet.

One of the Salford students, Jonathon "Jon" Pini, 33, said how much he had looked forward to the Seattle Systems tour. Pini, who uses a prosthetic arm and hand, was inspired to study orthotics and prosthetics by his own congenital limb loss.

Salford University Dave Hensley leads the tour through the manufacturing plant.

The tour split into two groups, one conducted by Kaia Halvorson, CPO, and the other by David Hensley, CP, FAAOP. This reporter accompanied Hensley's group. The tour included the composite area, milling machines used in making halos, and the CAD/CAM area.

During the tour, the group listened to water jet operator Cindy Brooke as she explained the machine's operation and displayed intricately detailed designs cut out from a carbon fiber shell with the water jet. The water jet pumps out water at a pressure of 40,000 psi, Brooke explained, comparing this pressure with that of a typical kitchen sink, which uses only about 30 psi.

The tour then continued to an assembly table where workers were adding hinges and other linkage systems to braces. As the tour progressed, Hensley pointed to long rods of solid titanium on a pallet board. Calling attention to a machine, Hensley said, "It converts that pile of solid rods into products such as this," as he held up a prosthetic ankle component. The group also observed the mechanized process of making PVA bags. "When I was young, I used to make the PVA bags by hand," Hensley remarked.

Salford University and the University of Washington students pose for a photo at the Poulsbo Waterfront Park.

Salford University The Salford and Washington students met for lunch in the Poulsbo Waterfront Park. Jon Pini and Lucy Grannel described some of the ways the Salford students raised funds for the trip to North America. They raffled off donated bottles of wine and a football (soccer ball) signed by all the Everton Football Club players, Pini said. "We sold jumpers (hooded sweatshirts) with the university name and logo and raised 500 pounds," Grannel added proudly.

After the Seattle Systems tour, students and instructors from the two universities again paired up to spend a day in various Seattle area clinics. The Salford students then traveled on to Canada to tour clinics and manufacturing facilities.

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