To help medical device manufacturers speed their time to market, TE Connectivity has expanded rapid prototyping capabilities into two of its existing U.S. facilities.

The new PROPELUS Prototype Centers in Plymouth, Minn., and Wilsonville, Ore., bring advanced engineering capabilities to existing manufacturing sites, including quick prototypes, 3D printing, polymer extrusion, and material testing. They join TE’s existing PROPELUS Prototype Centers, in Galway, Ireland, and Bangalore, India. The new locations enable easier in-person collaboration between American customers and TE’s engineers to develop medical products that help enable customer devices like interventional catheters and surgical robotics.

“Our engineers at the PROPELUS Prototype Centers are experienced in the end-to-end product development cycle—from concept to commercialization—and are ready and excited to engage with customers developing crucial medical devices,” TE Medical Chief Technology Officer Travis Dahlstrom said. “Beyond customer projects, our teams will remain at the forefront of emerging therapies and cutting-edge technologies, ensuring we’re always prepared to support our customers in the next breakthrough in medical device innovation.”

Since the first PROPELUS Prototype Center opened in Galway in 2022, TE has worked with medical equipment manufacturers in structural heart, electrophysiology, and other critical cardiovascular therapies to develop multiple next-generation devices, leveraging TE’s broad capabilities and iterative development process to assist in bringing solutions to patients. TE has closely co-created with many of these customers, moving their product concepts through to high-volume manufacturing. The PROPELUS program expanded earlier this year to Bangalore, where the team supports the Galway center through modeling, simulation and process development critical to prototype design and manufacturing decisions.

“The expansion of the PROPELUS program will enable us to help many more customers evaluate concepts and quickly build confidence in design decisions before committing to the lengthier traditional product development process,” Dahlstrom stated. 

TE Connectivity plc is a global industrial technology firm creating a safer, sustainable, productive, and connected future. As an innovation partner, its broad range of connectivity and sensor solutions enable the distribution of power, signal, and data to advance next-generation transportation, energy networks, automated factories, data centers enabling artificial intelligence, and more. The company’s more than 90,000 employees, including 10,000 engineers, work with customers in approximately 130 countries.