A growing movement of ‘nursineers' blends tech and medicine to fix healthcare from the inside
'Nursineer' is the clever portmanteau Craig, a 27-year-old Canonsburg resident, has coined to describe his dual role as both nurse and engineer. It's his way of explaining a career that doesn't yet have a standard title, but he's leading the way to change that.
Craig had no plans to become a nurse when he began studying biomedical engineering at Duquesne University in 2016. However, when he was offered the chance to earn a dual degree in nursing and engineering in exchange for an extra 18 months of coursework, he took a leap of faith, betting the added education would benefit his future career.
'I'm the oldest in my family, and I was always looked at as the support person and someone that everyone relied on,' Craig told Technical.ly. 'Healthcare was that perfect role [for me], because you have patients that are relying on you to be an advocate for them and to make the best decision for what their needs are.'
After graduating in 2022, Craig worked as an artificial heart engineer for healthcare giant UPMC, supporting patients with LVADs, or mechanical pump implants used to assist a failing heart. That hands-on experience, combined with his current role as an application consultant for medical equipment company Brainlab, revealed a healthcare gap that Craig is now determined to bridge: the disconnect between clinical needs and the tools engineers design to meet them.
'[Engineers] don't take into consideration the nurse on a midnight shift who's burnt out, or the patient who comes in and throws the [medical device] against the wall that wasn't durable enough to be dropped,' Craig said. 'That's a scenario they've never considered because they've never been through it.'
Now, Craig is spreading the word about this hybrid role, speaking with universities, attending Pittsburgh's weekly life sciences meetup BioBreakfast and connecting with fellow nurse-engineers. He hopes to bring nursineering into the mainstream, making it easier for medical tech to align with the real-world needs of hospital staff.
'It really doesn't matter to me what it's called,' Craig said. 'It just matters to me that there's someone who is a nurse and an engineer and is doing work with both of these backgrounds to improve all facets of healthcare areas.'
In this edition of Technical.ly's How I Got Here series, Craig talks about his passion for nursineering, the day-to-day realities of his job and why he's trying to build a community of people who share this hybrid skill set.
This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.
Why are you passionate about nursineering?
I typically say nursing is my purpose and engineering is my process.
Nursing gave me the reason why I'm doing this project, why I'm making this device, why I am spending all this time and stress and sleepless nights. Nursing gave me the why, and that was because of the patients.
Engineering gives me the process. Just being an engineer, I wouldn't have the connection and the understanding of these patients and what they're going through. With engineering, you're more focused on the product, the materials, the science and making it work. You don't get a lot of exposure to mental health, understanding what actually goes on in healthcare and the process that people go through to have a procedure done. There's so much more involved that you just don't get with engineering that nursing gave me.
With that differing view, it really allows me to find empathy and connect with the patients or hospital staff.
What does a typical day look like for you?
No day is the same for me. A typical week could be: On Monday, I might do an admin day where I'm catching up on paperwork, submitting different forms for purchases or problems and emailing clients we work with, along with accounts, physicians and specialists within Brainlab, for questions, concerns and product feedback.
Then on Tuesday, I might be going into the hospital to repair something broken. I might be walking in with the biomed teams, the surgeons, the coordinators, whoever would be involved, and just figuring out what went on, what happened, what needs to be fixed. That's more of the technical side of my role, installs, repairs, updates, trainings.
Wednesday might be a meeting with some surgeons about potentially purchasing a new system. Now I'm wearing my sales hat, working with them, their purchasing teams and logistics teams, figuring out how we can get this to work. Thursday and Friday, I might be doing actual cases — that's my clinical side — lending support in the operating room during the procedure, helping the surgeon with the equipment, making sure everything is running smoothly and finding ways to optimize the products for them.
Then on top of all that, I'm going to conferences, helping with setup, pitching new products and doing demos for surgeons, residents and med students. It's almost like three jobs in one. It constantly changes, and no week is the same. But for those who like being busy, doing things and working with many different people, it's a great fit.
What advice would you give to someone breaking into the field?
Say yes to everything and just figure it out later. It's a lot to manage, and you have to be organized and on top of things, but when you find something you like and just take those opportunities as they come, life can be truly one of those, 'I can't believe this is real, pinch me,' kind of feelings.
How do you like to spend your free time?
When I'm not doing my day job and trying to make this nurse engineer role a thing, I race vintage Formula cars. I like the fast pace, balancing all sorts of things at once and the chaoticness of being behind the wheel of a car.
I'm also a student pilot. It kind of goes hand in hand. There are a lot of technical things involved and it's very detail-oriented, like the job that I have. And I'm a volunteer firefighter. The firefighting alone is truly amazing. You don't know it until you see it.
If I'm not racing cars, flying planes or firefighting, I always take on new projects. I hate being comfortable. I like to be constantly growing and feeling stimulated, like there's something that's going to happen. I always say I want to feel like I'm at the beginning of a really good movie where you don't know what's going to happen. It's the adventure that really makes me wake up in the morning and function.
What's next for you and nursineering?
I want to develop a community or an association of nurse engineers. I want to put faces and names to this idea, make it a reality and start a new movement of clinically trained but also technically comfortable individuals who can walk into a hospital, instantly pick up on everything and start making change.
I've been in contact with different universities to come in and start talking with students about this. There are universities other than Duquesne that are starting these dual degrees and combining nursing with other technical fields. My ultimate goal is to make this a movement and really see change.
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Technical.ly
31-07-2025
- Technical.ly
A growing movement of ‘nursineers' blends tech and medicine to fix healthcare from the inside
When someone asks Garett Craig what he does for a living, the answer usually raises eyebrows. 'Nursineer' is the clever portmanteau Craig, a 27-year-old Canonsburg resident, has coined to describe his dual role as both nurse and engineer. It's his way of explaining a career that doesn't yet have a standard title, but he's leading the way to change that. Craig had no plans to become a nurse when he began studying biomedical engineering at Duquesne University in 2016. However, when he was offered the chance to earn a dual degree in nursing and engineering in exchange for an extra 18 months of coursework, he took a leap of faith, betting the added education would benefit his future career. 'I'm the oldest in my family, and I was always looked at as the support person and someone that everyone relied on,' Craig told 'Healthcare was that perfect role [for me], because you have patients that are relying on you to be an advocate for them and to make the best decision for what their needs are.' After graduating in 2022, Craig worked as an artificial heart engineer for healthcare giant UPMC, supporting patients with LVADs, or mechanical pump implants used to assist a failing heart. That hands-on experience, combined with his current role as an application consultant for medical equipment company Brainlab, revealed a healthcare gap that Craig is now determined to bridge: the disconnect between clinical needs and the tools engineers design to meet them. '[Engineers] don't take into consideration the nurse on a midnight shift who's burnt out, or the patient who comes in and throws the [medical device] against the wall that wasn't durable enough to be dropped,' Craig said. 'That's a scenario they've never considered because they've never been through it.' Now, Craig is spreading the word about this hybrid role, speaking with universities, attending Pittsburgh's weekly life sciences meetup BioBreakfast and connecting with fellow nurse-engineers. He hopes to bring nursineering into the mainstream, making it easier for medical tech to align with the real-world needs of hospital staff. 'It really doesn't matter to me what it's called,' Craig said. 'It just matters to me that there's someone who is a nurse and an engineer and is doing work with both of these backgrounds to improve all facets of healthcare areas.' In this edition of How I Got Here series, Craig talks about his passion for nursineering, the day-to-day realities of his job and why he's trying to build a community of people who share this hybrid skill set. This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity. Why are you passionate about nursineering? I typically say nursing is my purpose and engineering is my process. Nursing gave me the reason why I'm doing this project, why I'm making this device, why I am spending all this time and stress and sleepless nights. Nursing gave me the why, and that was because of the patients. Engineering gives me the process. Just being an engineer, I wouldn't have the connection and the understanding of these patients and what they're going through. With engineering, you're more focused on the product, the materials, the science and making it work. You don't get a lot of exposure to mental health, understanding what actually goes on in healthcare and the process that people go through to have a procedure done. There's so much more involved that you just don't get with engineering that nursing gave me. With that differing view, it really allows me to find empathy and connect with the patients or hospital staff. What does a typical day look like for you? No day is the same for me. A typical week could be: On Monday, I might do an admin day where I'm catching up on paperwork, submitting different forms for purchases or problems and emailing clients we work with, along with accounts, physicians and specialists within Brainlab, for questions, concerns and product feedback. Then on Tuesday, I might be going into the hospital to repair something broken. I might be walking in with the biomed teams, the surgeons, the coordinators, whoever would be involved, and just figuring out what went on, what happened, what needs to be fixed. That's more of the technical side of my role, installs, repairs, updates, trainings. Wednesday might be a meeting with some surgeons about potentially purchasing a new system. Now I'm wearing my sales hat, working with them, their purchasing teams and logistics teams, figuring out how we can get this to work. Thursday and Friday, I might be doing actual cases — that's my clinical side — lending support in the operating room during the procedure, helping the surgeon with the equipment, making sure everything is running smoothly and finding ways to optimize the products for them. Then on top of all that, I'm going to conferences, helping with setup, pitching new products and doing demos for surgeons, residents and med students. It's almost like three jobs in one. It constantly changes, and no week is the same. But for those who like being busy, doing things and working with many different people, it's a great fit. What advice would you give to someone breaking into the field? Say yes to everything and just figure it out later. It's a lot to manage, and you have to be organized and on top of things, but when you find something you like and just take those opportunities as they come, life can be truly one of those, 'I can't believe this is real, pinch me,' kind of feelings. How do you like to spend your free time? When I'm not doing my day job and trying to make this nurse engineer role a thing, I race vintage Formula cars. I like the fast pace, balancing all sorts of things at once and the chaoticness of being behind the wheel of a car. I'm also a student pilot. It kind of goes hand in hand. There are a lot of technical things involved and it's very detail-oriented, like the job that I have. And I'm a volunteer firefighter. The firefighting alone is truly amazing. You don't know it until you see it. If I'm not racing cars, flying planes or firefighting, I always take on new projects. I hate being comfortable. I like to be constantly growing and feeling stimulated, like there's something that's going to happen. I always say I want to feel like I'm at the beginning of a really good movie where you don't know what's going to happen. It's the adventure that really makes me wake up in the morning and function. What's next for you and nursineering? I want to develop a community or an association of nurse engineers. I want to put faces and names to this idea, make it a reality and start a new movement of clinically trained but also technically comfortable individuals who can walk into a hospital, instantly pick up on everything and start making change. I've been in contact with different universities to come in and start talking with students about this. There are universities other than Duquesne that are starting these dual degrees and combining nursing with other technical fields. My ultimate goal is to make this a movement and really see change.
Technical.ly
27-06-2025
- Technical.ly
Vesteck aims to turn aortic aneurysm surgery into a one-and-done procedure
When it comes to treating potentially deadly aortic aneurysms, medicine has come a long way. One Philly biotech startup aims to make those outcomes even better. Minimally invasive surgery on an aortic aneurysm — an enlargement of the heart's main artery that can cause a fatal rupture if left untreated — requires intensive follow-up care, with additional surgeries often required after two to five years. The likelihood of having to repeat the surgery is a reality that patients have to live with, but it doesn't have to be that way, said Joseph Rafferty, CEO and cofounder of Vesteck, a company that has developed a procedure that can reinforce aortic aneurysm surgery with high-tech stitches called endosutures. 'Physicians tell us, if it was their mom and dad having a procedure like this, they would want a device like this to make sure that they're not going to have to come back for a second procedure,' Rafferty told Using a simple catheter-based approach, Vesteck addresses this critical challenge in treating aortic aneurysms with a developing technology that has the potential to help patients with other medical conditions. Proud Philly roots West Chester-based Vesteck is a global startup with three founders from different parts of the world. But at its core, it's a Philly company. 'I'm a Philly guy, Delaware County, Temple [University] grad,' Rafferty said. 'We have very strong and very, very proud roots in Philadelphia.' Those Philly roots, he said, included a strong work ethic. 'I'm second-oldest of nine, and my wife is seven of 11, so we all understand the concept of 'pumping the pump,'' Rafferty said. 'If you don't pump the pump, money doesn't come out. 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'Dr. Edoga shared with me the concept that is Vesteck,' Rafferty said. 'But more importantly, he shared with me the challenges in the aortic repair space.' Along with a third cofounder, French cardiothoracic surgeon Thierry Richard, Vesteck was founded in 2019. Securing the post-surgical health of aortic aneurysm patients At the center of Vesteck's biotechnology is its proprietary endosuture called Suture-Tight. Endosutures allow surgeons to stitch a patient internally using an endoscope, a less invasive surgical tool that enters the patient's body through the groin rather than cutting the patient open. After the initial grafting surgery on the aortic aneurysm, a surgeon using Vesteck's technology re-enters and 'stitches' the grafts in place by attaching the Suture-Tight endosutures. These endosutures, which resemble tiny hoop earrings, are made of nitinol, a nickel-titanium alloy known for its shape memory. Since modern coronary stents are commonly made of nitinol, the FDA and physicians are already very familiar with its properties. Nitinol stents are crimped down to be tiny enough to deliver into an artery, then, once released, they return to their original size, propping the artery open. The same property makes it possible to insert Vesteck's sutures. The extra layer of stability after the suturing procedure can potentially improve physical outcomes and psychological ones, too, Rafferty said. Without sutures, 'it's kind of like the sword of Damocles hanging over your head, because you think you got cured, but you really didn't,' he said. Progress and setbacks, as funding has become scarce Vesteck isn't available for clinical use yet, but the team has used the Suture-Tight procedure on 14 patients so far in Europe, Canada and Australia. 'Our first human patients are doing very, very well,' Rafferty said. 'The aneurysm sacs are stable or shrinking, and there's no migration, no leaks, no suture fractures.' The procedure is so simple, he said, that one of the first to use the device on a patient, a physician in Australia, successfully stitched four sutures in four minutes. For physicians with endovascular skills, it's a relatively easy procedure with little learning curve. In the US, the Vesteck team has met with the FDA six times and is ready to start the 100-patient clinical trial that would move the technology closer to being used to treat aortic aneurysm patients. Just one thing is holding them back: funding. ' Venture capital funding is way down since COVID,' Rafferty said. 'Part of that is because of the economy. For the last four years, the IPO market has been all but stagnant.' As a result, many medical device companies can't do much more than wait for money to come back into the venture capital market. 'We're kind of on hold,' Rafferty said. On the local level, several Philadelphia investors have been as enthusiastic about Vesteck as Rafferty is about Philadelphia. BioAdvance, Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Grays Ferry Capital and Robin Hood Ventures are all supporters. Still, a company like Vesteck needs big-time, global-scale funding to move forward. 'You get to a point where you need to bring in some of these larger investors,' he said, 'and that's what we're trying to do.' Beyond aortic aneurysms Despite the funding roadblocks, Rafferty is optimistic about Vesteck and its potential impact on the medical world. Physicians who have seen the technology have suggested other potential use cases, including as part of heart and vein procedures. 'A big part of our culture is keeping an open mind and understanding that different patient populations around the world have different needs, and [asking] how can we adapt this technology to suit those needs,' Rafferty said. 'That's one of the things we've learned: stay interested and stay humble.'
Technical.ly
24-06-2025
- Technical.ly
How Philly's BioLattice is making the jump from grants to VC
For nearly two years, has hosted its monthly segment, Speaking, on WURD Radio's 'Reality Check' with Tonya Pendleton. Earlier this month, WURD cancelled the show after a round of layoffs. Winning pitch competitions and getting industry recognition don't always lead to funding. For Amelia Zellander, founder and CEO of the tissue engineering startup BioLattice, it took six years to get the 'proper funding' to pursue the biotechnology, which she finally secured at the end of 2023. Innovations like biomaterial to repair the front layer of the eye — an alternative to traditional cornea transplants — can be risky to develop, she said. In the current climate of risk-averse investors, that makes biotech money difficult to land. It was ultimately federal funding (the same programs now in limbo under the Trump administration) that made Zellander's initial research possible. Now she's seeking venture capital to maintain that momentum. 'My journey with this company in this form really started in 2017,' Zellander told reporter Sarah Huffman on Speaking, a monthly segment on WURD Radio's 'Reality Check' hosted by Tonya Pendleton. 'I applied for federal funding multiple times before I finally got the Phase One [National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research ] grant.' The funding served as a launch pad. Since starting a research partnership with Lehigh University, BioLattice has landed an $80,000 first-place prize at a pitch competition. More recently, Zellander was named Startup of the Year at BioLabs' third annual investor day. BioLattice is continuing its growth trajectory as a member of the inaugural HiveBio accelerator cohort. This is helping build the company's brand and supporting its path to securing investors, per Zellander. 'I have been getting a little bit of funding, but I'm just still in the battle to build my reputation,' she said, 'to build the trust with investors, and to present the need.' While positive recognition is useful in general, it doesn't always translate into dollars, Zellander said. As BioLattice gears up to raise its next $2 million to support the prototyping phase, she's hoping to make sure it can turn the accolades into securing VCs. BioLattice is currently in a preclinical, prototype stage. Its CorneaClear technology is compatible with rabbit eyes, and now needs more testing to conduct a formal animal study. 'Storytelling is the biggest thing,' Zellander said. 'Investors want to know: How are they going to get their investment back?'
