On Monday 7 October, The Healthcare Technologies Institute (HTI) held a Birmingham Tech Week event, Breaking in to Health Tech, as part of the collaborative series of events that took place across the City between 7 and 13 October.
The event brought together experts from academia, industry, funding bodies, Health Tech & Med Tech Companies from across the Midlands to provide delegates with information and stimulate ideas on how to take a technology forward from early stage research to finished project.
Professor Subrata Ghosh, Director of the Institute of Translational Medicine opened the event, followed by Professor Tony Metcalfe, Professor of Wound Healing at the University of Birmingham who provided information about the expertise and support the HTI can offer to Med Tech/Health Tech companies within the region.
Delegates then heard from Amerdeep Mangat from Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), who spoke about the support EEN can offer to SME’s with international ambitions. Amerdeep was followed by Dr Steve Taylor, Director of Strategy and Operations at Birmingham Life Sciences Park, who revealed the plans for the Life Sciences Park and how Birmingham Health Partners are bringing together NHS, academia and industry to create a critical cluster of health excellence at the heart of the region. The session concluded with a talk from Andreea Iftimia-Mander from Innovate UK who provided detail on how they can help UK businesses develop innovative medical technologies and access funding.
The second session featured an array of presentations, including:
- Reynold Greenlaw from Oxford Computer Consultants, who spoke about the processes involved with getting AI and image analysis into clinics;
- Melissa Snover from REM3DY HEALTH provided an insight in to their personalised 3D printed vitamins;
- and Jelena Põlajeva from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) advised on how they can provide support to gain access to world-leading expertise and funding.
The session concluded with a talk from Sheryl Warttig from the National Institute for Clinical Excellent (NICE), who outlined what HealthTech Connect is and how it can be used to support the development and adoption of Health Technologies.
The final session consisted of an exhibition featuring stands from REM3DY HEALTH, Oxford Computer Consultants, Enterprise Europe Network and a University of Birmingham showcase featuring TOKA®medtech products.
Delegates then had the option of a guided tour around our state of the art Healthcare Technologies Institute laboratory’s and the MD-TEC (Medical Technologies Testing and Evaluation Centre) facility.
The day was concluded with a 'Dragon’s Den' style panel session that gave five delegates the chance to give a short pitch to a panel of experts to be in with a chance of winning £3000 worth of direct support to help them to develop their technology.
Birmingham Tech Week highlighted the growing tech scene within Birmingham and the wider Greater Birmingham region and saw a vast range of events address some of Birmingham’s biggest tech challenges, cover the future growth of the city and how we can work together to generate valuable collaborations.