Sealevel CEO Helps Educate Future Medical Entrepreneurs

SCBIO, an organization that supports the advancement of South Carolina’s life science industry, sponsored a workshop on April 9 in Florence, SC, for inventors and entrepreneurs interested in creating their own businesses within the medical device field. The workshop event, Starting Up Medical Devices, was held at the Southern Institute of Manufacturing and Technology (SiMT), and Sealevel’s CEO Tom O’Hanlan was a featured presenter during the Engineering, Designing, and Prototyping portion of the program.

To help prepare the participants for their own journeys, Tom shared his experiences starting Sealevel 29 years ago. He also spent time explaining the electrical design process and the importance of following a disciplined plan to bring a new idea to market. To complement the message, each participant received a copy of Tom’s white paper, “Structured Design of Electronic Medical Devices.” The workshop also included sessions other topics like regulatory processes, patents, accounting and marketing to give attendees insight into all the aspects of creating a start-up in the field.

While at the event, all participants were treated to a tour of SiMT’s state-of-the-art facilities. SiMT’s capabilities include 3D printing and advanced machining processes that can rapidly advance the development of mechanical prototype parts and even small production runs.

There were a total of approximately 80 participants from all parts of South Carolina at the workshop. It is encouraging to see the energy surrounding the life sciences, and especially the design of new medical devices. Sealevel is excited to be a part of this rapidly growing, relatively new segment of industry in our state.