Your MD&M West To-Do List

Don't miss the world's largest medical design and manufacturing event, February 9-11, 2016, in Anaheim, CA.

Jamie Hartford

From February 9-11, 2016, thousands of medtech industry professionals will gather in Anaheim, CA, to attend Medical Design & Manufacturing West (MD&M West), the world’s largest design and manufacturing event.

With so many opportunities to take advantage of at the show, it can be hard to set your schedule. Here are our recommendations.

Expo Hall

With more than 2000 medical device and diagnostics industry suppliers showcasing their services and wares in the expo hall, setting aside time to stroll the expo floor is a must. This is your opportunity to see firsthand some of the most exciting technologies shaping the future of medtech, including 3-D printing, next-generation batteries, and cutting-edge materials. Meet face-to-face with suppliers in their booths or take in some of the group presentations at the Tech Theater, where suppliers including Nexeo Solutions, a distributor of chemicals and plastics; Geometric, an engineering solutions provider; and testing and regulatory services firm MED Institute will explain how they’re helping OEMs innovate.

Conference Sessions

This year’s MD&M West Conference is chock full of sessions designed to give you the information you need to tackle some of the toughest problems in medtech.

On Tuesday, February 9, you can choose between tracks on healthcare reimbursement and new product development. The former will feature sessions on market access challenges and opportunities, data credibility, and meeting reimbursement and regulatory goals during the design phase. The latter will address next-generation sensors, flexible electronics, and batteries; explore advances in nanotechnology; and consider the future of biomaterials. 

On Wednesday, February 10, tracks will focus on early-stage and scale-up strategies, as well as mobile health. Sessions include a regulatory boot camp, a primer on how to turn a smartphone or tablet into a medical device,  and a panel on data security. 

On Thursday, February 11, you can attend a day-long design innovation workshop put on by award-winning consulting firm IDEO or brush up on quality assurance and risk management. Sessions in the latter track include a roundtable discussion on ISO 13485 and ISO 9001, a panel on combination product development and FDA submissions, and a group exercise in which you can workshop your own risk assessment plan.

Center Stage

Even if you’re not planning to attend the conference, there are still a number of free educational opportunities you can take advantage of at MD&M West. A rotating cast of medtech experts will share their knowledge in presentations delivered at Center Stage, located in the exhibit hall. 

On  Tuesday, February 9, you can learn about new trends in manufacturing, take a fantastic voyage through the world of microelectromechanical systems, or get hands on in Gadget Freak’s Build-a-Gadget Workshop.

On Wednesday, February 10, you can learn about what’s new in medical 3-D printing and dive into what went wrong at blood-testing startup Theranos, which ran into trouble with FDA in 2015.

Networking

While MD&M West is certainly a great place to increase your knowledge about the medtech industry, it also provides unparalleled access to your medtech industry peers. 

If you’d like a little help making connections, sign up for a speed networking session, free with your expo registration. We’ll match you with other professionals who share your interests for a series of 10-minute speed meetings.

For a more casual atmosphere, join the free Booth Crawl on Tuesday, February 9. You and your fellow attendees can browse the aisles of the show floor while enjoying beer, wine, and snacks. 

If you’ve got an all-access pass, you can also take advantage of networking receptions at the end of the day on February 9 and 10 to discuss what you learned in your conference sessions. 

Jamie Hartford is MD+DI's editor-in-chief. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @MedTechJamie.