Original post by NI News can be found here.

In 2012, NI, through its Planet NI Program, began collaborating with Engineering World Health to deliver 10 NI Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite (NI ELVIS) II prototyping boards and other educational tools for biomedical equipment technicians (BMETs) in Honduras. Technicians use these tools to learn how to design and troubleshoot electronic circuits. The technicians then apply their skills in clinical environments in Honduras to repair life-saving medical equipment.

INFOP BMET Graduates and Instructors With Justin Cooper from NI

Students use the boards on a daily basis as part of their 2.5 year curriculum, which includes demonstrating the use of NI ELVIS with microcontrollers and an LCD to control the heating element and fan of an infant incubator.

As part of NI’s ongoing commitment to this project, the company donated four prototyping boards as replacement parts for boards that showed signs of wear due to regular use. Future classes of Honduran BMETs can now train on world-class educational tools. Approximately 15–20 students graduate each year from the local training institution, Instituto Nacional de Formación Profesional (INFOP)'s BMET Training program.

The NI ELVIS II prototyping boards are swappable and plug into the base of the NI ELVIS, which includes 12 virtual instruments. Some of these instruments are an oscilloscope, function generator, variable DC power supply, and signal analyzer. 

Justin Cooper, who joined NI at the beginning of 2015 as a district sales engineer in Seattle, delivered the boards. Justin managed EWH's BMET Training program in Honduras from 2010 through 2014 when the program transitioned to INFOP. Justin now serves on the EWH Board of Directors on a part-time basis. Throughout the multi-year transition period, EWH provided training and mentorship to the Honduran instructors, each of whom had previously trained electrical technicians. 

This sustainable, locally owned and operated BMET training program is the first of its kind in an area in Central America that includes Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Duke University published studies showing that trained BMETs at Honduran hospitals have reduced the amount of out-of-service medical equipment in the hospitals by 30 percent compared to a control group. A lack of functional medical equipment is a major barrier to quality healthcare in many developing countries like Honduras.

Justin’s trip coincided with the graduation ceremony for 16 students, the first class trained entirely by the Honduran BMET instructors at INFOP. The students concluded over two years of hands-on training at the school followed by two-month internships in hospitals around the country. They have repaired more than 100 medical devices that have been returned to service with patients. Most of this first class of graduates have already secured work in the biomedical field, including positions at public and private hospitals and private service companies. A group of four graduates are even forming their own company for medical device repair.

"It is great to see how through the Planet NI program and together with partners, NI is making a true and lasting impact in Honduras. Our platforms have helped build capacity and develop the workforce in this country. More students with higher level skills have a multiplier effect in the communities in developing countries.”—Eloisa Acha, Planet NI program director    

Watch a video from one of the INFOP instructors, Carlos Wadi.