Nearly a year after giving itself a massive home-field advantage, MIDI Medical Product Development is putting in some roadwork.
Last week, it was Medical Device & Manufacturing West, a California showcase that annually attracts more than 20,000 medtech engineers and executives 窶 a virtual mothership to the Smithtown-based medical maker. In May, it will be BIOMEDevice, an MD&M event in Boston promoted as 窶廸ew England窶冱 largest medtech event,窶 then MD&M East in June at Manhattan窶冱 Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
In between, according to principal Christopher Montalbano, is as much interstate networking as he and his brother and partner Gregory Montalbano, who manned the MIDI booth at MD&M West in Anaheim, can manage.
ツIt窶冱 not that the brothers don窶冲 like Long Island. This region is 窶忖p and coming窶 in the medical-device market and shares a 窶徂igh concentration of medical need窶 with New York City, Christopher Montalbano told Innovate LI.
And things are cooking at MIDI窶冱 6,500-square-foot Innovation Center, Montalbano added, with the headquarters/manufacturing hub 窶 which opened last spring and boasts dozens of engineers, software developers, industrial designers and user-interface specialists 窶 窶彗t capacity窶 and 窶彗 line of technologists waiting to be reviewed.窶
But 窶彿t all ties into funding,窶 according to Montalbano, and so the brothers keep hitting the bricks.
Both are part of the Stony Brook University Center for Biotechnology review board, the body responsible for selecting early-stage companies worthy of center funding and other resources. They窶决e both also members of the Biomedical Innovation Advisory Team at the Columbia-Coulter Translational Research Partnership, a funding/mentoring effort dedicated to improving patient care, established by Columbia University and the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation.
窶弋hese technologists and scientists all require funding, and that窶冱 what the Stony Brook and Columbia-Coulter program are all about,窶 Montalbano noted.
For MIDI, it窶冱 about a front-row seat to medical innovation 窶 and piling up new opportunities to assist those scientists with 窶彭eveloping new biomedical technologies, choosing new commercialization directions and other implementation assistance,窶 Montalbano added.
窶弋he networking is very important, not only with clients but with suppliers and other manufacturers in the biomedical and biotech industries,窶 he said. 窶弋he engineering departments of various medical-device companies get a look at what窶冱 out there, including what resources are out there, us being one of them.
窶弩e get to see the latest happenings, and we窶决e usually the ones who can help them bring it through and commercialize it.窶
ツThere窶冱 plenty of that already happening in Smithtown, where MIDI窶冱 窶廛evelopmentDNA窶 窶 the company窶冱 窶忖nique and effective,窶 customizable product-development methodology 窶 is routinely applied to numerous projects.
One recent client came, 窶彷unding in hand,窶 according to Montalbano, looking to prototype a germicidal device to sterilize hospital hallways; another current and 窶忻ery confidential窶 design project involves wearable bioelectronic devices. From medical lasers to DNA sequencers to room-sized vascular imaging systems, the 50-year-old firm has its fingerprints on dozens of blueprints.
窶弩e select them based on where our clientele is mostly based,窶 Montalbano noted. 窶弋here窶冱 a great concentration in the Boston area. We find the Boston/New England area down to New York City and Long Island has a high concentration, along with the southern West Coast.窶
While MIDI continues to ramp up its bioelectronics focus 窶 another Next Big Thing involves a microchip that could completely redefine the speed and accuracy of lab-based biological sampling 窶 the evolution of the Innovation Center, which celebrates a year of operation in May, has really broadened the company窶冱 vision, Montalbano said.
窶廾ur new facility has really allowed us to expand the portfolio of the type of projects we窶决e able to take on,窶 he noted. 窶廾ur core research and development has been enhanced and we窶决e doing a lot more front-end, groundbreaking activities related to product commercialization.窶
That includes whole design teams dedicated to things like human-machine interfaces, spatial optimization and workflow analysis 窶 critical areas as big thinkers on Long Island (and elsewhere) kick their medical-product machinations into higher gears.
窶弩e see a definite uptick in the medical industry on Long Island,窶 Montalbano said. 窶弋here窶冱 a lot more interest and state funding coming to the Long Island corridor, with the governor providing significant funding to enhance biotechnology in this area.
窶弸ou also see major players, such as (Melville-based) Canon Biomedical, growing here, both through acquisition and natural growth,窶 he added. 窶弩e窶决e feeling good about the prospect for continued growth of medical on the Island.窶