Rethinking Life Sciences: An Interview with Tracey Leipold, Lead Electro-Mechanical Assembler at G&H | ITL US

Today we sat down with Tracey Leipold, Lead Electro-Mechanical Assembler at G&H | ITL US, to discuss how intricate and important her role is for the manufacturing ecosystem in life sciences. Her governance over the assembly of medical devices represents a critical point in the G&H biotech production flow, ensuring quality, efficiency, and compliance with industry standards.

This is the third part of an interview series in which we highlight the experts behind the G&H Innovation Hub for Life Sciences in Rochester, New York. You can also read our first interview here, and our second one here. Enjoy!

Q: Tracey, you are known for your unerring accuracy when it comes to the work you supervise and do at the G&H Innovation Hub for Life Sciences. How did you develop this impressive quality?

TL: My expertise in precision assembly can be boiled down to those many years of learning and hard work in environments that required a high degree of meticulousness. I’ve started more than 20 years ago with the assembly of military radios. I then later moved on to gun manufacturing for the Navy SEALs. As you can imagine, the production setup in such workplaces needed to adhere to strict prerequisites since the SEALs require weapons that function flawlessly. I also had to learn how to use a variety of hand and power tools to properly refine the assembly process. For example, I’ve had to work under a microscope to fit in very tiny parts such as special crystals on gunsights. Experiences like these ended up defining my working style, and I am glad to be able to translate these skills into biotech assembly. In the end, the life science sector also holds a high degree of criticality when it comes to its machines and componentry.

I’m currently in charge of the assembly line strategy and deployment at the Innovation Hub. We already have some very exciting projects lined up, such as an innovative liver transplant system or a 360° retinal scanner that also predicts vision outcomes depending on the patient’s choices for intervention. My current project is working on a high-level detection system for contaminants such as microorganisms and mycotoxins for a world-leading microbiology and life sciences company. There is just so much to look forward to in this field!

Q: What should people be excited for regarding the official opening of the G&H Innovation Hub for Life Sciences?

TL: Firstly, I can tell you why I’m personally excited about this new venture. I absolutely love the fact that I'm here on the frontline of medical device innovation, that I get to see what our fantastic R&D team develops and that my team and I plays a part in assembling all these life-saving solutions. Working on new projects also means I have access to behind-the-scenes information about the latest developments in biotech. This links back to what I am currently seeing at the G&H Innovation Hub, which is just very encouraging and positive in terms of what serious problems these devices will tackle as soon as they hit the market.

I am truly grateful to be working for a company like G&H that brings such a positive impact to so many people in their day-to-day lives. I feel we should talk more about the proverbial fingerprint we’re leaving on global healthcare. Think improved organ transplant platforms, hyper-personalized treatment systems, facilitated surgeries, enhanced newborn care, and so much more. Now, we’re able to trailblaze biotech manufacturing in such a competitive market like the United States, with precious help from colleagues in the United Kingdom who have 45+ years of design and manufacturing experience under their belt through our G&H Center of Excellence for Life Science Manufacturing in Ashford.

My hope is to be able to share my enthusiasm with the public via state-of-the-art assembly craftsmanship. This is my promise to our clients at G&H because I know just how much these devices will mean to people.