MaxCyte Puts A Focus On: Lubna Hindi Manufacturing Engineer/Technical Assessments

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MaxCyte Puts A Focus On: Lubna Hindi, M.Eng Manufacturing Engineer/Technical Assessments

Lubna Hindi is currently a MaxCyte Manufacturing Engineer/Technical Assessments, having previously been a Technical Support Engineer. Lubna has been with MaxCyte for more than two years. She completed both her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Bioengineering through the J.B. Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville in Kentucky.

What/who inspired you to become an engineer?

My mom and dad both influenced me. My dad, a physician, was like MacGyver – he had superb engineering skills and could build or fix anything. We never hired anyone to assist us with projects around the house because he taught us how to do it ourselves. My mom is the most resourceful and resilient person I know. She taught us that there’s a solution for everything, you just have to figure it out and she always figured it out. It was this confidence that they instilled in me that pushed me to become an engineer. We need more women in engineering, so I am doing what I can to pave the way for them, to influence them, by leading, educating, and doing excellent work.

What is your “why” or your passion -- why do you come to work each day?

There are two characteristics that I look for when it comes to work. The first is will my work have a positive impact on people in need, and secondly will it constantly challenge me. I dislike the idea of being stagnant and don’t want to look back and feel that I didn't learn anything or grow. The biotech industry presents daily challenges that force you to think and innovate. My job at MaxCyte is the perfect combination of helping people and doing work that is challenging, but in a good way.

What drew you to work at MaxCyte?

Even though the engineering team was small, I was so impressed by how much it was doing, and the caliber of the products being developed. The team members are very passionate and like-minded people whose personalities have come together to create a fun culture that has carried over to the rest of the organization. At the same time, they are productive and extremely committed to their work. It’s refreshing to be surrounded by smart people who make work fun by hosting an art show or pancake breakfast like they are everyday occurrences. The saying, “when you find a job you enjoy doing, you will never have to work a day in your life,” rings true at MaxCyte.

What brought on your recent role change and how has your scope of work changed?

Previously, I was a technical support engineer and responsible for supporting our field team. I taught them how to use the instruments, as well as troubleshoot any issues, coordinate repairs, and handle complaints or questions from the customer. My team tracked these types of issues and then shared them with the design teams so that they could implement changes to improve future iterations of the product. Our goal was always to enhance the customer experience and have them know that once they buy an instrument from us, it is truly a partnership.

Now, my title is manufacturing engineer/technical assessments and I am responsible for bringing in new products and disposables to manufacture in-house and reduce our dependency on contract vendors. This allows us to control the manufacturing process, as well as focus on process and continuous quality improvement. We want to ensure that our products do not have any assembly or design defects before being sent out into the field. In this position, I now get to drive those processes and see the implementation of any recommended changes, from beginning to end. I also have become somewhat of a subject matter expert that others come to for information about our products.

What is the biggest priority for your department?

Within the manufacturing engineering department, we are focused on bringing in more new products that we can build on site. I think people underestimate the complexity of this transition; it’s not just a copy and paste of a product that our manufacturer has been developing for years. In reality, it involves a significant amount of time troubleshooting, training and maintaining quality control. For example, before we can train people, we have to put controls in place to ensure that we standardize the process to limit and eliminate any operator or process errors. It's a whole different ballgame to make sure that we have everything set up to run smoothly and be sustainable as we grow.

How does your department’s work fit into the Company’s mission and vision?

Even before MaxCyte updated its mission and vision, our department has always been patient-centered in its approach. Our focus was never just about developing an instrument for our customers, but rather about creating the technology that our customers could use to impact patients’ lives. We want to partner with our customers so that together, we can make a difference.

To do this, we make sure to acknowledge feedback from our customers and resolve even the tiniest of issues so that it never happens again. Also, there is no room for error. Our job is to make sure that everything about our products and instruments is perfect; therefore, nothing is released without passing numerous inspection points and receiving quality approval. We do not want our customers to experience any disruption during this period of transition and growth.

What are you most proud of in your work?

I am excited for the opportunity to continue to build upon the foundation we have established by expanding our processes, database, and knowledge. By tracking and reporting any issues, and then providing this feedback to the design teams, my team and I are making sure that we are continuously improving. I also think our camaraderie and fun culture have positively impacted our co-workers and the company’s culture.