Medical Technology Ireland 2018 took place in Galway recently with over 200 exhibitors and a high-quality attendance of over 1200 visitors across two days at Galway Racecourse.
Engineers from the major medical device manufacturers across Ireland attended the Event, with a large proportion of visitors also working in R&D, product design and manufacturing.
The Show was opened by Galway TD, Hildegarde Naughton, on Wednesday 26 September followed by an Opening Address in the Conference Theatre.
The inaugural Women in MedTech seminar drew a large audience to hear some inspiring personal and professional journeys and to learn how some organisations are attracting and retaining talent.
Chaired by Pauline O’Flanagan, Medtech & Engineering Skills Programme Manager from IBEC, speakers included Emer Hickey, Senior Reliability Engineer from Stryker in Limerick; Michelle Finnan, SAP Portfolio Manager from Johnson & Johnson; Ailish Kelly, Sales & Marketing Manager from Synecco; Louise Grubb, CEO from Q1 Scientific; and Jennifer Rowan, Senior Manager in Quality Operations and Chairperson of the Women's Network from Boston Scientific in Galway.
Medical Technology Ireland hosted its first Start-up and Innovation Academy this year, allowing eight Irish Start-ups to make their business pitches to a national audience of investors and financial institutions. The pitches ranged from IT-based companies to medical devices and orthopaedics. The session was introduced by Sarita Johnston, the High Potential Start-up Manager for Enterprise Ireland and moderated by Peter Brady from Invoice Fair.
A professional panel of four included Ultan Faherty from the Business Angel Network/H Ban, a professional entrepreneur Colm Murphy from Appraisee, a representative from a leading Irish VC, Eimear Gleeson from Atlantic Bridge Capital and Sarita Johnston, Manager from Enterprise Ireland HPSU.
Presentations from Fiona Neary, NUIG Business Innovation Centre; Gillian Slattery, the Local Enterprise Office; Mary Rodgers from the Portershed Incubation Centre; Kevin Moran IMS Marketing; Gillian Horan from the Pudding Branding Agency and James Cassidy from Lifescience Recruitment, all contributed in supporting the eight start-up companies and gave a broad insight into business start-up acceleration in Ireland.
This year Medical Technology Ireland ran its second successful conference in Ballybrit covering innovation and R&D support in the Life Science sector in Ireland. Hosting 20 leading-edge national and international speakers from industry, business institutions and third level colleges and universities, the Conference offered insights into leading-edge topics and challenges currently facing the Life Science sector.
Topics including latest developments in stent technology, sterilisation trends, materials supporting medical devices, design thinking, additive manufacturing, robotics, patent registration, clinical trials and polymer innovation, all contributed to offer the Medical Device Cluster in Ireland a window into the latest worldwide trends in Medical Device Innovation and R&D.
As the global med-tech Industry is expected to reach €475 billion in 2018 and an annual growth of 5.5 percent over the next three years, Ireland is in a significant position to target a high percentage of this growth as 14 out of 15 of the top medical device med-tech companies are now located in Ireland.
Medical Techhnology Ireland extended thanks to speakers and sponsors including the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and all the business institutions, universities and private companies who contributed to the Conference and made it a success in further promoting Ireland’s Life Science Technology and Innovation nationally and throughout the global med-tech Industry.
Medical Technology Ireland 2019 takes place on 25-26 September 2019 and over 65% of exhibitors have already booked stands, ensuring its place as the second largest med-tech Exhibition in Europe.
Jason Moss, Event Director commented, “We are delighted with the exceptionally high quality of visitors who have attended the event. All the major medical device manufacturers in Ireland were represented. Ireland now has the Med-Tech event that it deserves!”
