WPI's PracticePoint team created quite a buzz at its booth at the AdvaMed MedTech conference in Boston at the end of October. The conference was hosted by the nationwide medical device trade organization in conjunction with local organizations, such as MassMEDIC. Attendees included the head of the FDA, high-ranking generals, other federal, state, and local government officials, and CEOs from major medical device companies.
Says Practice Point Director Greg Fischer, “We had an amazing turnout at this conference. Of all the shows I have been to, this one seemed to be by far the best for us. It was very high-profile visibility for WPI among medtech executives and government officials from around the world. It earned a tremendous amount of interest and very positive feedback about PracticePoint.”
Fischer and the team hope their presence at the conference will eventually yield new members and collaborators. It also drummed up substantial support and PR for PracticePoint’s existing members and its start-ups/spin-offs (such as AiM Medical Robotics). The team has a hunch as to why PracticePoint received so much attention.
"The buzz we received was in no small part due to the massive undertaking by Patrick Nieman, who deserves a special thanks," says Fischer. "He is a senior in WPI's Architectural Engineering program who, along with the WPI LEGO Club—of which he is president—created a huge, true-to-scale, incredibly detailed LEGO model of the PracticePoint facility. This was the biggest draw to a tradeshow booth I’ve seen! Everyone of all levels and backgrounds was impressed."
Concludes Fischer, “I wanted to make sure Patrick and the others know how much we appreciate all the effort. The model is an amazing tool for explaining what we can offer and it drew in a number of WPI alumni and family members who were curious to hear more about the goings on at WPI.”
