March 4th, 2018

Hello! My name is Andy Polcaster and hopefully, by this time next year this will be a fully-functioning forum, with an extensive wiki, library, or at least links to useful information. I have worked in the orthopedic field as a technician for over 6 years, and more recently I began working in the orthotics and prosthetics sector. One thing that seemed to be lacking in these areas specifically, was a robust online forum. I wanted to make a place where newer techs could go to ask questions, expand their knowledge, and even collaborate on new ideas for products, devices, or improvements to workflow.

I will be using this website as a tool to learn full stack web development. The functionality of the site is currently... ***Drum Roll***
Non-functional, but I hope to change that quickly. Ideally, when this forum reaches it's full potential it will be a hub for technicians of many different disciplines. I hope to build seperate forums for Lab Techs, Ortho Techs, Biomedical, Dental and so on. This will allow for less confusion within the forum, and foster connections within the community.That being said, the forums will be searchable as a collective of course, and I hope to also include a collaborative ThinkTank feature.

The ThinkTank will allow professionals to contribute to open-source projects, or solutions to problems. The forum will be open and free, but discretion should obviously be used when discussing things that are trade secrets, company-specific, or undisclosed.

One of the first things I will be setting up is the email on this site. I want this forum to be a place for techs, built by techs. So the most important thing to it's success and it's usefullness is feedback from techs. What would you like to see readily available in the library? What field do you work in. Is there a special pet project or idea that you've had for years, but need help to implement it? These are the things I need to know if Bench is going to become what I know it can be.

I'm sure it won't be easy, but I'm excited to have a place to connect with all of you, and share our ideas!

-Andy