UT employees donate time, service to Cirque du Soleil

June 29, 2011 | Features, UToday
By Josh Martin



Although the Cirque du Soleil cast spoke Russian, Polish and other unfamiliar languages, Mark Kosmyna recognized the relief in their voices when he appeared with his repair equipment.

His presence, after all, meant the Cirque du Soleil “Alegria” show in the downtown Toledo Huntington Center could go on last month.

Kosmyna, a biomedical engineering equipment technician for The University of Toledo Medical Center, donated his time and service May 20 to repair an ultrasound therapy machine the pliant performers rely on to soothe their strained muscles.

The traveling Cirque du Soleil troupe is renowned for athletic feats achieved by its performers who come from all over the world to perform with the group, which was in Toledo May 18-22.

After arriving at the Huntington Center, Kosmyna noticed “there was a line of performers in dire need of the therapeutic machine.”

He added, “They were really happy to see me come to repair it.”

David Burton, the supervisor for performance medicine for the Cirque du Soleil “Alegria” show, suspected the therapy machine wasn’t functioning properly and called the UTMC Biomedical Engineering Department for help recalibrating its operational parameters.

Joseph Munier, another technician at UTMC, arranged the logistics for Kosmyna and the equipment necessary to conduct the recalibration at the Huntington Center.

Kosmyna said it took about an hour to perform the operational check and recalibrate the therapeutic device.

Burton later sent Kosmyna’s department a thank-you note, writing, “Your professional consideration and demeanor while servicing our issues was exemplary of a department mission, which obviously includes customer satisfaction, attention to detail, and a job well done.”

The letter went on: “We are greatly appreciative of the service which you provided us and will share our positive experience with others along the road.”

Click to access the login or register cheese