The First Ever Massachusetts Medtech Week Is Underway

MassMEDIC and UBM Canon are bringing two major Boston medical device conferences under one roof this week as part of a new partnership.

Massachusetts Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo has officially declared this week as the first ever “Massachusetts Medtech Week.”

Leaders from MassMEDIC and Qmed’s parent company UBM Canon joined DeLeo at the Massachusetts State House speaker’s office for the announcement. It comes amid the holding of both the MassMEDIC Conference and BIOMEDevice Boston on May 6 to 7 at the Boston Convention Center.

"With the recent wave of medtech innovation coming out of the Massachusetts area, this is the perfect time to formally recognize the businesses and organizations that are so vital to the industry," Thomas Sommer, president of MassMEDIC, said in a recent news release. "We're excited to partner with BIOMEDevice Boston on what I hope becomes an annual celebration.”

Last month, UBM Canon and Minnesota-based trade group LifeScience Alley announced a similar partnership to bring their two conferences under one roof for a Minnesota Medtech Week. MD&M Minneapolis is slated for November 4–5 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The combined Minneapolis event is expected to bring in more than 7500 manufacturers, suppliers, and business leaders under one roof.

Other upcoming conferences include MD&M East in New York City, June 9-11, 2015.

For the Massachusetts Medtech Week, event highlights include a joint MassMEDIC/BIOMEDevice keynote address by Dean Kamen, founder of DEKA Research & Development Corp., on May 6 on the BIOMEDevice Center Stage, open to all event attendees and exhibitors. DEKA’s recent inventions include the lifelike Luke Arm (named after Luke Skywalker in “Star Wars”).

Stuart Williams, PhD, director of the Bioficial Organs Program at the University of Louisville, will discuss the "realities and myths of buildling 3-D printed body parts.” And 3-D printing has its own three-part, daylong session at BIOMEDevice Boston. Read about more BIOMEDevice highlights here.