Partnering with the University at Buffalo and MedTech, FuzeHub hosted a Solutions Forum for medical device manufacturers and suppliers at the University at Buffalo’s New York State Center for Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences on May 13.
FuzeHub, the statewide New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership center, organized the event to connect industry professionals with resources that can help them accelerate their company’s growth.
“Over 20 resources were available for medical device manufacturers and suppliers,” said Elena Garuc, FuzeHub executive director. “The forum provided answers to the complicated questions medical device manufacturers face to help accelerate their growth.”
About 35 individuals representing New York state resources provided practical advice to about 30 manufacturers who attended the Solutions Forum. Manufacturers were matched with resources that could strengthen their competitiveness and growth potential.
“New York state has a great ecosystem for medical device manufacturers; however, they need access to the right resources to help them solve challenges and scale their business,” said Everton H. Henriques, NY MEP solutions director at FuzeHub.
New York state has the fifth-highest concentration of medical device manufacturing companies in the United States, but with the growth of the global medical device industry, there’s growing urgency to help New York manufacturers capitalize on the opportunity.
“Our Solutions Forums are designed to be a one-stop shop for manufacturers to stay competitive and find ways to grow stronger,” Henriques said. “For this specific event, our strategic approach to include experts in advanced manufacturing, ceramics, electronics, optics, software, and other vital areas ensured appropriate resources and potential solutions were available to help manufacturers and suppliers of all sizes.”
University at Buffalo and MedTech, a trade association for the bio/med industry, helped organize the event, which aimed to expand the growth of the life sciences and biomedical industries in Western New York and regions across the state.
Event organizers believed manufacturers and New York state resources left Monday’s event with stronger connections and deeper understandings of how to best work together—which can help support the industry’s growth.
“The medical device business is growing globally, and New York state manufacturers can and should be a part of it. At our event, many manufacturers said they found value and made useful connections that can help them grow,” Henriques said. “Resources and experts at the event also benefited from the interactions and the exposure to companies, to which they hadn’t yet connected. We even received requests for a repeat event.”
Resources that were available to the manufacturers at the event included:
- Advanced Institute for Manufacturing
- Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR)
- Buffalo Institute for Genomics and Data Analytics
- Insyte Consulting, WNY Regional MEP Center
- Buffalo Manufacturing Works (EWI)
- Invest Buffalo Niagara
- Buffalo Niagara Partnership
- MedTech
- Business and Entrepreneurship Partnerships
- NextCorps
- Center for Advanced Ceramic Technology
- Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences
- Center for Advanced Materials Processing
- NYS Pollution Prevention Institute (P21)
- Center for Automation Technologies and Systems
- NYS Science & Technology Law Center
- Center for Computational Research
- NYS Trade Adjustment Assistance Center
- Center for Excellence in Advanced & Sustainable Manufacturing
- Small Scale Systems Integration and Packaging (S3IP) at Binghamton University
- Center of Excellence in Materials Informatics
- UB Center for Industrial Effectiveness
- Clinical & Translational Science Institute Cores
- Workforce Development Institute