{"388001":{"#nid":"388001","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Helping people to stand on their own two feet","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBy any measure, creating a thriving and viable startup business based on years of research can be viewed as a success.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut for Ken Gall and Kurt Jacobus, company principals of Atlanta-based MedShape, success takes on a deeper meaning: helping people to stand on their own two feet.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMedShape uses proprietary shape memory technology used in surgical procedures of the foot to fix injuries.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTo create a company from the ground up is special,\u201d says Gall, MedShape\u2019s chief technology officer. \u201cBut to create a product that allows candidates for amputation the ability to walk again is extremely powerful.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGall and Jacobus, the company\u2019s CEO, are the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership\u2019s (GaMEP) March Faces of Manufacturing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe initiative highlights the state\u2019s manufacturing industry, which employs 365,000 and is an important sector of the Georgia economy. The Faces of Manufacturing shows that companies have an economic impact not only on the communities they serve but also in the lives of the people they touch, from employees to customers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGall and Jacobus originally met in the early 1990s at the University of Illinois, where both were studying mechanical engineering.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile there and working in the same lab, they discovered a mutual interest in materials science. After Jacobus went to another laboratory, Gall continued to further their research into new materials and the possibilities for medical use applications.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe two reconnected in 2005 when Gall took a teaching position at Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Materials Science and Engineering, where he continued his new materials lab research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGall founded MedShape through VentureLab, a Georgia Tech incubator that helps Institute faculty, staff, and students take ideas from lab to market. He brought Jacobus on as CEO.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the 10 years since its founding, MedShape has created six products and projects, launching two new devices each year for the next several years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut the benchmarks most important to them are how they have helped people, such as a diabetic patient who faced the amputation of her foot because two previous surgeries on her diseased ankle were deemed ineffective. The patient\u2019s research led her to MedShape and one of its products that allowed her to not only keep her foot but also walk again.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u201cThe exciting part about that for us is that these products actually do improve lives and the human condition every day,\u201d Jacobus says. \u201cAnd that\u2019s the part we take very seriously and I think we\u2019re proudest of.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBy P\u00e9ralte C. Paul\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Each month the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership profiles Georgians who are involved in manufacturing"}],"field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Entrepreneurs find fulfillment in helping surgical patients through proprietary technology"}],"uid":"28137","created_gmt":"2015-03-16 20:33:28","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:54","author":"P\u00e9ralte Paul","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-03-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-03-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"388011":{"id":"388011","type":"image","title":"MedShape Faces of Manufacturing","body":null,"created":"1449246288","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:24:48","changed":"1475894349","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:39:09","alt":"MedShape Faces of Manufacturing","file":{"fid":"75464","name":"dsc_0235.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc_0235.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc_0235.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3174002,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dsc_0235.jpg?itok=JbgSwL91"}}},"media_ids":["388011"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/facesofmanufacturing.com\/portfolio\/ken-gall-and-kurt-jacobus\/","title":"Ken Gall \u0026 Kurt Jacobus"},{"url":"http:\/\/gamep.org\/","title":"Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership"},{"url":"http:\/\/venturelab.gatech.edu\/","title":"GT VentureLab"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"121581","name":"Faces of Manufacturing"},{"id":"16331","name":"GaMEP"},{"id":"9575","name":"Ken Gall"},{"id":"121571","name":"Kurt Jacobus"},{"id":"121561","name":"MedShape"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor media inquiries contact:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELaura Diamond\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor more information about GaMEP contact:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKatie Takacs\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGaMEP Marketing Manager\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:katie.takacs@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekatie.takacs@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["peralte.paul@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}