Jeff Quid, a TRIMEDX senior technician in Illinois, was recognized as TechNation’s professional of the month. TechNation featured Jeff’s personal journey from building model airplanes to a career in clinical engineering. The full article, as it was published on May 1, 2025, is below.
TRIMEDX biomed Jeff Quid built and flew model airplanes growing up. He imagined a career in aviation for himself when it came time for higher education. His dad was an electrical engineer, so Quid enrolled in the Avionics Program at Southern Illinois University (SIU) in Carbondale.
“As I progressed through the program, several of my classmates had found another program SIU offered, and that was a B.S. in Advanced Technical Studies with ‘biomed’ as an area of study. I decided after I finished my A.A.S. In Avionics, I was going to move into the biomed degree. I think what changed my mind was a visit to Flying Tigers at O’Hare to see what I would be doing, and with a wind chill at the time of -20, I thought a nice warm hospital would be a much better environment,” Quid says.
When the program ended, Quid was required to do an internship. When an issue prevented the start of the first internship, he landed at his present work location.
“I lived in Schaumburg, Illinois, and so I called a few local area hospitals and the Alexian Brothers shop sounded the friendliest on my initial phone call,” he says.
“I have been a tech within TRIMEDX, still here at Alexian for 29 years now, and I still love what I do. The people here make the job fun, and we have a very family feeling with not only staff but directors and administration. What makes this position so fun and interesting is all the new things I get to learn about. I have learned so much about what other departments do and how we fit in and effect their operations. We also have the advantage here of working directly with administration on capital purchases, projects and ways to improve and integrate our medical equipment,” Quid says.
Knowing what to consider
Over the years, Quid has stayed busy with several projects, utilizing the knowledge of many years in the profession.
“I have been involved in and created many special projects over the years here. Everything from planning telemetry installs, network installs, new equipment distributions in large scale (infusion pumps for example), equipment upgrades [and] capital planning for new construction,” he says.
One example is the installation of new instrument washers in the central sterile department.
“I did not just have to set a date for the vendor, but ensure the physical site was ready prior to install. This started with basics, like will the semi fit into our loading dock – we can handle a 53 foot, but no bigger. Will they fit through the doors and hallways inside the hospital and do I have a route? Elevators? We had to unpack and remove the washers from their crates because they were too tall to move while boxed,” Quid explains.
His next consideration was where to store the units and then scheduling the infection control team to perform an infection control risk assessment (ICRA).
“Meaning, do we need to put up barriers, how to maintain the positive/negative pressure between clean and dirty side. Removal of the units, and then schedule Environmental Services to do a clean/buff and polish of the floor where the old ones were so we have a clean start. I also had to replace the steam valves to each washer prior, because the gates were worn, and they would not shut all the way off. I had to make sure the electrician was available for power requirements and to be able to disconnect the currently hardwired units, and then once installed, reconnect to them,” Quid says.
Even before starting this project, Quid had to ensure that the consumables were available and on a current contract.
“Then, schedule the vendor for the actual install and in-service of staff,” he adds.
Away from work, Quid’s original love of avionics evolved into a hobby along with mountain biking.
“I had always enjoyed building and flying model airplanes, and even met one of our anesthesiologists who was into it as well. I saw a model airplane news magazine on his cart and asked about it, and we got to talking about the hobby,” he says.
“My boss at the time also was into mountain biking, and me and another tech friend of mine in the shop bought ourselves each a mountain bike and competed for several years in the Chequamegon Fat Tire 40. That is a 40-mile, off road mountain bike race from Cable to Hayward, Wisconsin on part of the Birkebeiner trail, logging roads and other places where there is not much of a ‘trail’ to speak of. I did that for about four years,” Quid says.
Quid reflects on his career as a biomed:
“I really enjoy learning, and not just in our little area of equipment, but with processes, procedures, where things are, what to do to if … I like to understand how things work as a whole, and maybe that includes the corporate process for requesting capital equipment, or why and how we special order consumables for departments. That way, when people ask how do I do something, I may not have access, but I can usually point them to the right person. I don’t think I could ever work in a retail store, or a cubicle where I had the same few hundred square feet to look at for my career. I like the changes that occur as the hospital moves forward. It is really something to look, from where we came when I started, to where we are now,” he says.
The patients and clinicians at Alexian Brothers Medical Center are fortunate to have a caring and dedicated biomed professional who is comprehensive in knowledge and empathetic.
BIOMETRICS
Favorite book:
James Clavell’s “Shogun”
Favorite movie:
“National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”
Favorite part of being a biomed?
“Every day is different, and the people I get to meet are from all walks of life, from all over the world, and in all kinds of situations. I enjoy helping others and solving problems, be it in a policy and procedure, or troubleshooting a difficult case with a patient on the table. I get personal satisfaction for a successful repair, and that being that I was certain the cause of the issue and that I resolved it with my fix.”