The wide array of test and measurement equipment is critical during the in-house design and troubleshooting of custom biomedical instrumentation and electronics. Examples of the test and measurement equipment include: signal generators, signal analyzers, oscilloscopes, signal processing modules, data acquisition devices, and power supplies. As opposed to limited support for specific IRP projects, the IDEAS infrastructure supports the IRP with the central and fundamental engineering capabilities listed above.

The engineering-focused advanced software development platforms are essential for modern electrical, computer, and mechanical engineering tasks, such as: circuit schematic and printed circuit board design (EAGLE), embedded system development (Xilinx FPGA, Code Composer Studio), signal processing algorithm development (Matlab), 3D mechanical design and modeling (SolidWorks), and laboratory automation (LabVIEW).

The on-campus rapid prototyping systems allow IDEAS to efficiently and interactively fabricate working prototypes, which enables rapid integration of a new instrument or method into collaborator laboratories and clinics. Example rapid prototyping systems and capabilities include: 3D-printers, circuit board plotter, laser cutter, CNC milling machine, robotics, and high density soldering.

The IDEAS infrastructure is an asset to IRP investigators involved in high risk high reward research, allowing collaborative teams to quickly move forward on projects requiring technology and methodology innovation. IRP investigators provide funding for project specific hardware, software, and assembly services, for example, when a custom instrument will be deployed to their laboratory or clinic.