Annual competition honors innovative medical products
Medical product designers, engineers, and manufacturers are invited to submit entries to the second annual Medical Design Excellence Awards. The product design and engineering competition, sponsored by MPMN's publisher Canon Communications, seeks to recognize innovative medical products that advance the state of the art and improve health care. "We were impressed by the quality of the entries submitted to the 1998 Medical Design Excellence Awards," says Canon Communications' president Bill Cobert. "The finalist and winner products selected by the 1998 jury showcased cutting-edge technologies and creative engineering solutions in a wide range of healthcare disciplines. We are looking forward to seeing the entries in the 1999 competition."
The deadline for submitting entries is February 8, 1999. To be eligible, products must be commercially available by the deadline date. Winners will be published in Medical Product Manufacturing News and will be displayed during Medical Design & Manufacturing East 99 in New York City, May 25–27, 1999. The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA; Great Falls, VA) is endorsing and administering the program.
To receive competition rules and entry forms, call Canon Communications at 310/392-5509 or IDSA at 703/759-0100, call the 24-hour fax-on-demand line at 800/588-8527 to receive the materials via fax, or visit Medical Device Link on-line at http://www.devicelink.com/awards to download the information.
Medical category showcases emerging technologies
A diverse array of medical devices received top honors in the 1998 Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA), an annual competition sponsored by the Industrial Designers Society of America (Great Falls, VA). In the medical and scientific category, the IDEA gold winners are:
The competition's silver winners are:
The annual IDEA competition recognized a total of 126 winners in 47 subcategories. To view the winning designs, visit IDSA's Web site at http://www.idsa.org.
Pack Expo 98 to highlight packaging technologies
Repositioning traditional products for new growth is the topic of the keynote address at Pack Expo 98, scheduled for November 8–12 at McCormick Place in Chicago. The trade show, sponsored by the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI; Arlington, VA), will showcase packaging and packaging-related converting machinery as well as materials.
Morning sessions will focus on retail packaging trends and the state of the U.S. and Canadian packaging machinery industry. For more information, visit http://www.packexpo.com or call 703/243-8555.
Infusion and related supplies contribute to growth
The European market for disposable medical supplies is forecast to increase more than 6% annually, reaching $46 billion in 2002, according to a recent report. "Disposable Medical Supplies: Europe," published by The Freedonia Group (Cleveland), identifies angioplasty catheters, DNA test kits, transdermal hormone replacement and nicotine patches, and daily contact lenses as product areas expected to contribute to this healthy growth.
The firm expects European demand for infusion and related administration supplies to increase 6.3% annually, reaching $9.5 billion in 2002. With shorter hospital stays and increased self-care, growth is anticipated in the alternative-site markets for IV sets, oxygen supplies, prefilled inhalers, and transdermal patches. Improvements in oral drugs and nutritionals will soften the European demand for hypodermic devices, IV catheters, and enteral feeding supplies, the report stated.
Another growth area within the European market for medical disposables is medical kits and trays, which is achieving an annual gain of 6.7% from the 1997 level and is expected to reach $9.5 billion in 2002. The report is available for $3800 from The Freedonia Group (440/684-9600 or http://www.freedoniagroup.com).
Event features collocated OEMed and OEM Electronics
On October 14–15, thousands of medical and electronic manufacturing professionals will converge on the Bayside Expo Center in Boston to see the latest technology, products, and services.
The third annual OEMed will feature products and services from hundreds of companies—a comprehensive display of the raw materials, equipment, components, and services used in the production of medical devices. A Medical Electronics Pavilion will showcase subsystems such as BGA, COB, CSP, and flip-chip packaging, as well as LEDs, LCDs, EPROMs, power supplies, solid-state sensors, connectors, and fiber optics.
In addition to the OEMed show, OEMBoston will also feature the collocated OEM Electronics show. OEM Electronics will feature more than 100 national and regional exhibitors showcasing the latest electronic products and services.
For more information contact Sophia Washam of Canon Communications at 310/392-5509, ext. 210; visit www.devicelink.com/expo; or call the 24-hour, toll-free fax-on-demand line at 888/462-7060.
Lumonics (Kanata, ON, Canada) acquired Meteor Optics (Glendale, AZ), a designer of fiber optics for high-power industrial lasers. Meteor Optics will become Lumonics' Phoenix operations. CAD/CAM/CAE system provider Matra Datavision (Les Ulis, France) signed an agreement to transfer the customers of its current plastics simulation product Euclid Quantum to C-MOLD (Louisville, KY) software. The transfer will include the provision of implementation, training, and customer support services. Phoenix Health Care Products (Milwaukee) has been licensed by DuPont (Wilmington, DE) to provide a new 1025B Tyvek for desiccant packaging. 3M (St. Paul, MN) is offering a sampling program to allow companies to try its hydrofluoroether fluids as an alternative to chlorofluorocarbons and other cleaning substances. For information, call 800/906-6886. PGI Nonwovens, a division of Polymer Group Inc. (Mooresville, NC), secured proprietary worldwide distribution rights to Halar ECTFE, produced from a melt-processable fluoropolymer developed and manufactured by Ausimont USA Inc. (Thorofare, NJ). Plastic Molding Technology (Seymour, CT) was presented with the Connecticut Award for Excellence from the State of Connecticut's assessment and performance recognition program. Minnesota Tool and Die Works relocated from Maple Grove to a larger facility in Ramsey, MN.
Medical Design Awards Issues Call for Entries
Industrial Design Competition Winners Selected
Laerdal Medical's Stifneck Select collar won an IDEA gold award for its user-friendliness, adjustability, and reusability.
The DynaMyte augmentative communicator for people with speech, language, learning, or physical disabilities was designed for easy operation and durability.Packaging Professionals to Meet in November
Substantial Growth Anticipated for European Disposables Market
Suppliers and Manufacturers to Convene at OEMBoston
Business and Acquisition News
