{"231531":{"#nid":"231531","#data":{"type":"news","title":"U.S Secretary of Commerce Tours Georgia Tech-Based Medical Innovation Center","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EU.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker on Aug. 23 visited the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.devices.net\/\u0022\u003EGlobal Center for Medical Innovation\u003C\/a\u003E (GCMI) near Georgia Tech\u2019s campus as a part of her nationwide listening tour during her first 100 days in office.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESecretary Pritzker is visiting business leaders, Department of Commerce employees and innovation and entrepreneurial centers, such as GCMI, around the country during her tour. She promised to report what she learns on the listening tour to President Obama in an effort to help strengthen the economy and create American jobs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOne of the things that we\u2019re interested in at the Department of Commerce is helping entrepreneurs take their ideas from concept to market,\u201d Pritzker said. \u201cIt requires a collaboration of a number of different types of expertise.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA unique collaboration of engineering and bioscience expertise was the idea behind GCMI.\u0026nbsp; The Center\u2019s goal is to create an ecosystem of experts in different areas to help innovators design, build and test new medical devices faster and cheaper than they could alone.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOne of the things that we want to do is continue to encourage that kind of innovation process so that we can have new companies that are starting up that will create good jobs in America,\u201d Pritzker said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt GCMI, Pritzker toured laboratories and design studios with Georgia Tech representatives and members of the media. She examined implants for facial reconstruction surgery, learned about a new vision testing device and saw a $35,000 \u201cdrill press on steroids\u201d \u2014 a Haas CNC Milling Machine \u2014 that innovators use to bring their designs to life.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Global Center for Medical Innovation, located at 575 14th street in midtown Atlanta, is a state-of-the-art medical device development center working with leading medical and academic institutions and startup companies in the region. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGCMI is positioned to help innovators overcome the hurdles associated with bringing new medical technologies from the lab into the clinic,\u201d said Tiffany Karp, general manager and COO at GCMI. \u201cThe presence of GCMI in Atlanta is promoting the growth of the Southeast\u2019s medical device industry by keeping technology in the region and attracting interest from other parts of the country.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs an independent, non-profit organization, GCMI brings together universities, clinicians, inventors, engineers, designers, researchers, marketers, attorneys and investors, all working to speed new medical innovations from concept to commercialization. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGCMI is a full-service product development organization \u2014 a one-stop-shop where entrepreneurs can design, engineer and test prototypes of their medical devices \u2014 \u201criffing off each other,\u201d as Pritzker put it. The Center is the first and only one of its kind in the Southeast.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe\u2019re most proud of the speed at which we\u2019re developing from clean sheet of paper to functional prototype to proof of concept,\u201d said Mark McJunkin, director of operations at GCMI.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPritzker saw the unique mix of engineering and bioscience expertise first hand as she met with John O\u2019Shaughnessy of Matrix Surgical USA, a company that designs and develops sterile surgical implants for trauma surgery in GCMI\u2019s Class 10,000 clean rooms. Pritzker held a model skull containing one of these implants, which are patient specific based on CT scans, modifiable by surgeons and eliminate the need for bone grafts. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Department of Commerce supported the creation of GCMI, Pritzker said, and in 2010, GCMI was one of six winners of the Department of Commerce\u2019s i6 Challenge, a grant competition designed to support the nation\u2019s best ideas for technology commercialization and entrepreneurship.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne recurring theme that Pritzker has heard at other stops on the tour is that businesses are having a hard time finding skilled labor. She pointed to GCMI\u2019s apprenticeship programs as one way to get young people excited about creative problem solving.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI think Georgia Tech is developing a really interesting ecosystem of introducing young people in fourth, fifth and sixth grade to the excitement of innovation,\u201d Pritzker said. \u201cWe need ecosystems around the country that are helping folks, both people who are unemployed as well as our young people, to gain the skills that our businesses need.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDershika Patel, a fifth-year biomedical engineering student at Georgia Tech, was the team leader in the apprentice program at GCMI, where she learned how to apply what she\u2019s learned as a student to bring medical products from \u201cbenchtop to bedside,\u201d she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBeing in school is great, but having the skills that it takes to get medical technologies to the market is a whole different ballgame,\u201d she told Pritzker. \u201cIt is a great program.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter touring GCMI, Secretary Pritzker had lunch with Georgia Tech President G.P. \u201cBud\u201d Peterson, where they discussed the Institute\u2019s role in fostering an innovation ecosystem. While in Atlanta, Pritzker also met with Mayor Kasim Reed, CEOs from companies including UPS, and other business leaders in the area. She praised the city\u2019s entrepreneurial spirit.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYou have a very vibrant business ecosystem going on here,\u201d Pritzker said. \u201cI think there\u2019s an enormous optimism coming out of the entrepreneurial community.\u201d \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Brett Israel (404-385-1933) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404 894-6986)(\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Brett Israel\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EU.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker on Aug. 23 visited the Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI) near Georgia Tech\u2019s campus as a part of her nationwide listening tour during her first 100 days in office.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker on Aug. 23 visited Georgia Tech, including the Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI)."}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2013-08-25 13:42:14","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:46","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-08-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-08-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"231501":{"id":"231501","type":"image","title":"Secretary of Commerce Pritzker-4","body":null,"created":"1449243602","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:40:02","changed":"1475894903","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:23","alt":"Secretary of Commerce Pritzker-4","file":{"fid":"197558","name":"csvisit-004.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/csvisit-004_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/csvisit-004_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1211867,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/csvisit-004_0.jpg?itok=qHF3sH_l"}},"231521":{"id":"231521","type":"image","title":"Secretary of Commerce Pritzker-6","body":null,"created":"1449243602","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 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