MedDevice Forum, a brand new medical device conference, debuted on May 22, 2018, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Hosted by Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine, the purpose of this event was to discuss the most pressing issues medical device companies are facing and the growing role of academia in medical device research and development. The event also brought to light the region’s thriving medical device and life sciences industries and the benefits it offers to medtech.

Brent M. Nowak, Ph.D., Executive Director of applied Medical Device Institute (aMDI), moderated a panel named: Pathway to Innovation—Academia’s Role in Device Development. The panel discussed the rising inclination amongst medical device manufacturers to enable universities to serve as their R&D facility. The panelists expressed their views on the benefits of the arrangement and where they expect it to go in the future.

Speakers of the panel included: Kristin Burgard, Project Manager, Small Company Innovation Program, Ryan Erickson, Vice President—Packaging Engineer, Packaging Compliance Labs, John Farris, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Engineering, Grand Valley State University, Jaideep Rajput, Director—Commercialization, Beaumont Health, and Frederick (Rick) Shorey, Program Director R&D, Surge Cardiovascular and Medisurge.

The forum was attended by OEMs, contract manufacturers, suppliers, consultants, members of the investment community and academia, and offered networking opportunities between discussions. Attendees could also choose to take a tour of any two facilities from Mary Free Bed, The Michigan State University Grand Rapids Research Center, and Spectrum Health.

Applied Medical Device Institute (aMDI)

Since becoming operational in 2016 with five students and one full-time engineer, aMDI has grown into a multidisciplinary team handling a dozen projects in 2017. With the positive response from partners and clients, aMDI believes the number of projects will increase even further this year and looks forward to bringing more talented individuals onboard.

MedDevice Forum 2018 was organized by The Right Place, in collaboration with Medical Product Outsourcing (MPO) and Orthopedic Design & Technology (ODT).