Jim Schwoebel 4/1/2012

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THE MEDICAL DEVICE ENTREPRENEURIAL CLUB AT GEORGIA TECH

The MDE Club at Georgia

Tech

A Proposal and Preliminary Action Plan to Start a High‐Energy,

Innovation‐Focused, and Network‐Centered Medical Device Club on

GT’s Campus

Jim Schwoebel 4/1/2012

This proposal goes through the 1) motivation to start this club; 2) what this club can provide to GT students; 3) the frequency of club meetings; and 4) the action plan for the 2011‐2012 school year

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Table

of

o Email 7. Initializing Collaborations ... 8‐9  GT MBA Entrepreneurship Club [http://mba.gatech.edu/clubs/entrep/index.html]  GT Biomedical Engineering Society [http://irene.bme.gatech.edu/bmesab/BMES/]  GTNeuro, The Neuroscience Club at Georgia Tech [http://gtneuro.net/]  GT Executive Roundtable [http://www.gtert.org/]  GT Inventure Prize Committee [http://inventureprize.gatech.edu/]]  GT Business School (MBA) [http://mgt.gatech.edu/]  Emory Goizueta Business School (MBA) [http://www.goizueta.emory.edu/faculty/resources.html]  GSU Robinson College of Business School (MBA) [http://www.cdc.gov/about/default.htm] 8. Electing Officers for Next Year ... 10‐11`  Officer Positions and Committee Positions 9. A Glimpse into the Schedule for the Fall ... 12

 General meetings – tentative meeting dates and times  Discussion group – tentative meeting dates and times

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 Newsletter Team – tentative meeting dates and times  Volunteer opportunities – tentative meeting dates and times  Education opportunities – tentative meeting dates and times

May 2011 to August 2011 Action Plan... 13‐end 10. New Events ... 13

 Research Convention in MDE – for undergrad and graduate students, better chance to engage in research pertaining to MDE (strengthens ties between the universities)  Discussions in MDE – a monthly engaging seminar on the philosophical issues remaining

in MDE; an intersection of MDE and philosophy.

 MDE Networking Convention – this would be the first annual MDE networking session sponsored by the club. Guest speakers, philosophical discussion, and a session for anyone contemplating a career in MDE. Collaborations with Emory, GSU, and GT.

 MDE Speaker Series‐ ‐ the club will try to host at least one MDE‐based guest speaker every 2 months upon the overall interest of the Club. We can partner with the IMPACT speaker series already established at Georgia Tech to have speakers specifically geared toward our audience.

August 2011 – January 2011 Action Plan ... TBA 1. TBA… the rest of the things should be discussed at the first general meeting

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Motivation to Start the Club

1) Large Barriers to Entry – Most college students do not have the capital (both physical and intellectual) to start and run a business. This club could try to reduce the barrier to entry by:

a. capital investment – pool capital to allow for individuals to pursue ideas, diversification of capital to allow for students to pursue ideas

b. hands‐on education‐ teach students how to become entrepreneurs through group‐ created medical device case studies

c. teambuilding – assemble teams with fellow MDE at GT

d. data acquisition – safety and effectiveness, econometrics, and marketing e. peer‐review – evaluate student ideas to assess marketability and competition f. networking ‐ expand business credibility well‐established, club‐sponsored MDE

mentors

2) Lack of Structured MDE Education – there is a general lack of structured education for medical device entrepreneurship for undergraduate and graduate students – it is mostly a self‐learned set of skills. What about the idea that you can simulate medical device experience within an undergraduate curriculum – this would set GT apart from almost all the other universities.

a. How can this be done? (some ideas: Mini‐medical device companies, student‐led initiatives, new classes in MDE)

b. The goal of the club is to not teach people how to make money, but to teach students how to become medical device entrepreneurs

3) Lack of Mentorship to Young Medical Device Entrepreneurs‐ I have found that it is very difficult to get in contact with successful medical device entrepreneurs without some networking organization involved. This club could act a mentor‐magnet for those seeking mentorship in MDE. It could also provide mentorship services to those seeking mentorship in MDE.

a. We could allow successful medical device entrepreneurs by letting them into the peer‐ review process of medical device ideas

b. Inventure prize – many BME students are involved in the Inventure prize and could use

the services of this club to hone a medically‐oriented business idea

4) Lack of Career Counseling in Medical Device Entrepreneurship – there seems to be a general lack of career counseling in the medical device entrepreneurship to GT students (or the 18‐25 year age group altogether). This club could spark passion or give realistic feedback to those who are contemplating MDE as a career.

a. this club could help people identify if they would rather be research consultants or entrepreneurs through simulations of medical device entrepreneurial case studies 5) Lack of Integration of the Entrepreneurial Disciplines at GT – I have tried to contact the various

entrepreneur clubs at GT, but these entrepreneurship initiatives seem to be scattered and random; this club could partner with the other clubs to create a more unified entrepreneurial‐ minded atmosphere at GT.

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6) Lack of Medical Device Entrepreneurship Career Networking Opportunities – this club could act as a networking club to those who are in industry working as MD entrepreneurs or to those who are seeking to expand their network into the MD‐related area (for job leads and teambuilding). 7) Lack of Integration of Research Pertaining to MDE – I think it would be really cool if we could

use this organization as a research hub for medical device entrepreneurship. What strategies work in MDE, and how can we teach them? There are a lot of research questions that have not been answered with respect to MDE, and to use this club as a body to integrate individuals t answer these questions could have a broad spectrum of applications (to many different disciplines and fields).

a. Opportunities for undergrads/grads to perform research on medical device entrepreneurship

b. Creation of a peer‐reviewed journal for medical device entrepreneurship

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What This Club Can Provide to GT Students

1) Medical Device Entrepreneurship Training ‐‐various aspects of entrepreneurship training a. Leadership

b. innovation and creativity c. Network structure d. Business Plan

e. Specialized Skills (marketing, regulatory, clinical) f. Mentorship Acquisition (senior executive advising) g. Integration of Skills (capstone business creation)

2) Medical Device Networking Events – meet with other medical device student entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs in industry

a. Inventure Prize Recruiting

b. Partner with Roundtable and BBUGs

c. SEMDA advising possibilities (Southeast Medical Device Association) d. Club Contacts in Industry

3) Inventure Prize Mentoring – advising those on the originality and marketability of certain ideas, like publishing a paper

a. Confidentiality agreement

b. Peer‐review process of entrepreneurial ideas (Panel of Experienced Judges) i. Viability of idea

ii. Originality of idea

iii. Cost effectiveness relative to competition iv. Possible Risks

v. Constructive Feedback to improve prototype c. Tailoring ideas to a specific market, expanding market scope

4) MDE Open Forum – creating a defined set of medical device entrepreneurial rules; a bimonthly discussion group on entrepreneurship to spark interest and innovation within the GT community

a. What is medical device entrepreneurship and in what ways does it differ from regular entrepreneurship?

b. Why is it so difficult for those with little industry experience to enter into a career of medical device entrepreneurship?

c. How can we simulate the medical device startup atmosphere in an undergraduate or graduate‐level setting?

d. What skills are necessary to be a successful medical device entrepreneur? e. What sacrifices are necessary to enter into medical device entrepreneurship? f. How do medical device entrepreneurs attain venture capital to jumpstart an idea or

business?

g. What types of ideas attract venture capitalists to invest in a medical device company? h. How do you assemble a team to start a medical device company?

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Frequency of Meetings

MDE Discussion Forums – once a month MDE Guest Speakers – ~twice a semester MDE General Meetings – once a month

MDE Education Events – once a month (themes) MDE Mentorship Event – once a school year MDE Networking Event – once a school year MDE Research Events – once a semester

MDE Publication, Peer‐Reviewed – once a year (initially)

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April

2012

to

May

2012

Action

Plan

1. Faculty

2. Making

a

Website

3. Advertising

the

Club

4. Anticipated

Collaborations

5. Electing

Officers

Year

6. A

Glimpse

into

the

Schedule

for

the

Fall

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Faculty Sponsors

We are currently looking for a faculty sponsor. Some sponsors in mind are:

1) Franklin Bost, MBA ‐ http://www.bme.gatech.edu/facultystaff/faculty_record.php?id=107

2) David Ku, M.D./Ph.D. ‐ http://mgt.gatech.edu/directory/faculty/ku/index.html

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Making a Website

I have had some experience with FTP and webhosting services, and I am thinking about using a drupal template to

make a website for the Club. Drupal software is a very powerful opensource content management system that

allows for easy publication for events, subscription to a newsletter, and blogging. I think for the purpose of the

Club, this software package would be the best option due to the versatility that the software provides to the user.

1) What is a suitable domain name? www.gtmdea.org

2) We currently have a template installed, check it out

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Advertising the Club

With all the new forms of social media, the best way to plant a seed for a new venture, especially an interest

group, would probably be through Facebook. At least initially, I think the best way to recruit members would be

through a social media facility until the club has a reputation that stands for itself. Therefore, I would like to

publish weekly updates on facebook and get as many members to join the group as possible by May 1st .

In addition, I plan on making two to three fliers to post around campus to increase general campus awareness

about the Association’s existence. Particularly, I want to focus on the need for officers in the club, and application

to be sent to my email address if people are interested in running.

Lastly, I would like to send out emails to other schools and organizations to increase awareness of the Club in the

general Atlanta community. These emails will be important for the collaborations that we plan to establish with

Emory, Georgia State, professional organizations, and various other campus organizations.

To sum, we plan to advertise the club via:

1) Social media – facebook, weekly updates and member counts. Try to maximize group participation by

May 1st.

2) Fliers – fliers passed out around campus to stir interest in people running for officer positions, a startup

and innovative feel

3) Email – connect with Sarah, the new Lab coordinator to publish information and updates about the club,

to recruit grad students for the various activities. In addition, I plan to use mail to connect with various

clubs and organizations to increase awareness of the Club in the general Atlanta community.

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Anticipated Collaborations

I may be a little bit ambitious as to the number and quality of possible collaborations with the club, but I believe

that with enough effort put into advertising and connecting with these organizations, we can successfully connect

and have quality collaborations with the groups listed below:

Internal Collaborations

Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) ‐ "GTBMES was created to promote the profession of biomedical

engineering and to acquaint the student body with ideas, purposes, and objectives of the bioengineering field. Our interests extend from tissue and cellular engineering, to biomaterials and biological interfaces, to biological signal processing and instrumentation, to biomechanics, rheology, and integrative biology."

Biomedical Research and Opportunities Society (BROS) ‐ "The Biomedical Research and Opportunities society exists

to advocate involvement in BME/biosciences research, give members opportunities to present their research, foster a deeper understanding of the field and what GT does for it. Another key facet of our mission is to keep members informed about scholarships, study/work abroad opportunities, grad school possibilities, and application procedures."

Enterprise to Empower (en2em) ‐ "Enterprise to Empower (En2Em) is a Georgia Tech student organization that

seeks to educate, enable, and engage students in social entrepreneurship, helping them discover how their skills and talents in any field ‐‐ from business to engineering ‐‐ can be applied to the social problems of the world today. More than just enabling students to start new enterprises and organizations, En2Em sees the need to equip all those in our generation with the skills of leadership, creativity, and empathy for others so that they may become positive change‐agents in their communities and workplace."

The Neuroscience Club at Georgia Tech (GTNeuro) ‐ "The purpose of the Neuroscience Club at Georgia Tech is to

promote: 1) Education – to promote general education about the implications of neuroscience research; to encourage the creation of a neurobiotechnology minor at Georgia Tech; 2) Research ‐ to encourage undergraduate research in neuroscience (at Georgia Tech, Emory, and Georgia State); 3) Networking – to host events and guest speakers that enable a forum of exchange among neuroscientists in the Georgia Tech community; 4) Advocacy – to support undergraduate and graduate students in their career goals pertaining to neuroscience and/or medical school; 5) Outreach – to volunteer in areas throughout the Atlanta community (e.g. the Shepherd Center, the Marcus Autism Center, and the American Parkinson's Disease Association) interrelated to medicine and neuroscience; to bridge the gap between neuroscience research and application; 6) Inquiry – to host discussions that address novel issues relating to philosophy, ethics, and brain science; to foster a spirit of liberal thinking; 7) Professional Development– to collaborate with other universities (Emory, Georgia State) and expand opportunities pertaining to neuroscience to Georgia Tech undergraduate and graduate students."

Georgia Tech's Business School ‐ "The College of Management at the Georgia Institute of Technology combines

excellence in the functional areas of business education with the multidisciplinary focus on management of technology, international business, and entrepreneurial and innovative processes. We pursue the creation of new knowledge and the training of scholars to further the science and practice of management. We are committed to being a recognized leader in developing business leaders to operate in changing technological environments." Flashpoint ‐ "Flashpoint is a startup accelerator program at Georgia Tech. Flashpoint offers entrepreneurial education and access to experienced mentors, experts, investors and stars in an exciting, immersive, shared‐ learning, open workspace." External Collaborations

Georgia Bio ‐ "Georgia’s life sciences community is a rich mix of companies applying life sciences technologies to

improving medicine and healthcare, agriculture, industrial and energy production, forestry, marine science and environmental management. There are more than 300 life sciences companies, most of them focused on healthcare applications, ranging from established to start‐up pharmaceutical biotechnology, medical device, diagnostic, medical supply and medical informatics companies; and contract laboratory, preclinical and clinical research organizations. The state’s life sciences industry is anchored by world‐class public and private research institutions and universities, such as Emory University, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Georgia, Medical College of Georgia, Georgia State University, and Morehouse School of Medicine. These universities, and

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associated institutes such as the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, are global leaders in advanced life sciences and nano‐biotechnology research. "

Goizueta Business School at Emory University ‐ "Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, founded in 1919,

provides a world‐class business education that combines functional specialization with a broad business

perspective to create principle‐based leaders enabled by ties to Emory University, a top‐20 institution; accessible, world‐class faculty scholars; an intimate and small‐by‐design learning experience; a passionate and engaged Goizueta network; stimulating experiential learning opportunities; and global perspective and understanding."

Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University ‐ "the J. Mack Robinson College of Business is committed to excellence in the creation and dissemination of knowledge in business. We prepare students to lead by pursuing ethical, innovative and value‐enhancing strategies in a culturally diverse and technologically advanced world. We serve our community through complementary research, teaching and outreach activities, leveraging our proximity to multinational corporations, entrepreneurial enterprises, government agencies and not‐for‐profit organizations."

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Electing Officers Next Year

Here is a list of all open officer positions. Please use the application found online here: http://gtmdea.org/node/9

Vice-President – Internal Relations - The VP of Internal Relations will be the junior executive officer and will act on the behalf of the President in the event of his/her absence. Main duties entail coordinating the schedules of

committee chairs, and performing research on new collaborations for the club internal to the Georgia Tech

community. The Vice President will also be responsible to co-write a weekly action plan for the club to delegate tasks within the executive board with the President.

Vice-President – External Relations - The VP of external relations will be the junior executive officer and will coordinate communications between MDEA and organizations outside of the Georgia Tech community (e.g. Georgia Bio, Georgia State, Emory). Main duties entail scheduling meetings with external collaborators, and performing research on new collaborations for the club external to the Georgia Tech community.

Vice-President – Marketing - The VP of Marketing will be responsible for all marketing activities for MDEA. Main duties entail writing up advertising summaries for events, sending advertisements out to advisors, keeping track of club membership, and capturing feedback throughout a MDEA-hosted event. The VP of Marketing is then responsible to relay feedback back to the President after an event has been implemented.

Treasurer - The Treasurer will maintain records of all revenue and expenditures and ensure that generally accepted accounting practices and monetary controls are in place. The Treasurer will also collect annual dues from members and create a budget for the club at the beginning of every school year.

Secretary – The Secretary is responsible for keeping a record of member participation at member events to award points for officer election eligibility. The Secretary will also keep the minutes at executive board meetings, schedule rooms for club events, and type up the weekly action plan in coordination with the President and Vice President. Webmaster – The Webmaster looks over and maintains the website to ensure that the website is a reliable avenue for members to receive updates about MDEA. The Webmaster also ensures that members register for events via the website Events Module and responds to questions asked by club members relating to the website.

Director of Social Activities - puts together at least two events each semester that promote networking among club members and those interested in medical device entrepreneurship in the Georgia Tech community.

Director of Discussion Activities - the discussion chair is responsible for hosting monthly group-led discussions pertaining to medical device entrepreneurship.

Director Business Workshops -the education chair is responsible to create at least two educational workshops pertaining to medical device entrepreneurship per semester.

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A Glimpse into the Schedule for the Fall (An Overview)

MDE Speaker Series - we will invite guest speakers monthly to speak on topics relating to medical device entrepreneurship. We attempt to get speakers from a variety of medical fields including: neuroengineering, cardiac tissue engineering, biomechanics, clinical research, and others. The speakers will be announced the beginning of the Fall 2012 semester.

Business Strategy Workshops - in this series of workshops, we will be teaching the fundamentals of medical device entrepreneurship (e.g. business plan workshop, regulatory affairs workshop, networking workshop, marketing workshop, etc.). Workshops will be chosen based upon feedback from the Association.

Design Workshops - design workshops are intended to allow for students to gain hands-on exposure to medical device design principles (e.g. SolidWorks workshop, metal technology workshop, wood technology workshop, fastening workshop, electrical device design workshop, etc.). The idea is to 'teach' students the fundamental skills necessary to produce meaningful medical devices.

Networking Events - various events will be held throughout the year to allow for students to network with each other to form medical device startup companies. Hopefully these teams will results in high-impact inventions through competitions like the Inventure Prize Competition or senior design projects.

MDE Ethics and Philosophy Seminar Series - these seminars will introduce emerging issues in medical device design (i.e. DNA information security, Neural Interfacing and information security, Medical Device Regulation/FDA, Radiation/Carcinogens and the Human Body in Imaging Modalities, etc.). Through these seminars, we hope to instill some design values in emerging medical device entrepreneurs.

Jim Schwoebel 4/1/2012

The MDE Club at Georgia

Tech

A Proposal and Preliminary Action Plan to Start a High‐Energy,

Innovation‐Focused, and Network‐Centered Medical Device Club on

GT’s Campus

Table

of

Contents

April

2012

to

May

2012

Action

Plan

1.

Faculty

Sponsors

2.

Making

a

Website

3.

Advertising

the

Club

4.

Anticipated

Collaborations

5.

Electing

Officers

Next

Year

6.

A

Glimpse

into

the

Schedule

for

the

Fall