Much more important to Rohrer than the location is that he was still able to meet the workshop's founder, Maurice E. Müller, himself. "That was inspiring and laid the foundation for all the expertise in biomechanics and manufacturing we've developed here over time.
Research and craftsmanship under one roof
Nikola Saulacic, Leader Clinical Research at the Department of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery at Inselspital, Bern University Hospital has been a client of the ARTORG workshop for 10 years. “In the workshop, I have always received a friendly welcome and very competent advice. The new location in sitem-insel is certainly an advantage. For production, there is space for state-of-the-art machinery here and the workshop is closer to us, which makes cooperation much easier."
"A solution specific to my problem"
Samir Abou-Ayash, senior physician at the Clinic for Reconstructive Dentistry and Gerodontology at the ZMK University of Bern, likewise perceives collaboration with the workshop as an asset: "The first thing Urs did was to come to me at the clinic to get an exact picture of the experimental setup. I found that very trust-inspiring". Similar to Dr. Saulacic, he too initially had a vague idea of how he could design the fixtures for testing the wear of dental prostheses. But he was unsure to what extent his idea was feasible or even fulfilled the research purpose:
"Although I could have simply ordered various components for my project externally, I still had no clear idea of what I actually needed," says Dr. Abou-Ayash. "This personal attention and collaboration to find a solution specific to my problem was much better than if I had had to come up with it all myself. Here Urs has helped me enormously with his experience."
In addition to the research institutions of the university and the Inselspital Departments, the workshop's clientele also includes ARTORG's own research groups and some startup companies. Furthermore, platforms at sitem-insel can also use the workshop for research and development of medical technology via the sitem-insel Support Funds.
25 years training apprentices
Next to the highly customer-oriented services, MDP has another core task: For 25 years, polymechanic apprentices have been trained here.
"What is special about us is that apprentices grasp the entirety of a project, i.e. they know the "intended use" and do not just produce parts in isolation. This requires creativity, because there is not just one solution for a problem", Urs Rohrer says.
This was also the experience of Janosch Schär, who had to manufacture a device for fixing a heart valve for his final apprenticeship exam this spring at ARTORG. "This was challenging because my design is supposed to hold both biological and artificial heart valves in such a way that the fluid mechanics in the experiment correspond exactly to the behavior in a patient's heart," Janosch explains.
