A Look At September's Meeting

"Horizontal" Mass. Economy Strong

Michael Olivieri, speaker

The good news is that the Massachusetts economy is the envy of most states. The bad news is that those states would like a bigger piece of what makes us strong. This was according to Mass High Tech and Boston Business Journal publisher Michael Olivieri, who presented the latest research and findings in the September keynote address.

In past decades, the Massachusetts economy was highly dependent on certain industries: first military, then microcomputers, and then Internet/telecom. Olivieri found that since the bursting of the national economic bubble in 2000, the state's economy has become much more diversified, or "horizontal."

Elevator Pitch of Jim Matthews

The legacy industries remain - though in diminished importance - while other industries have grown fast. These include nanotechnology, data storage, and wireless and security technologies. However, the brightest star is - no surprise - the life science industries. Olivieri was astonished that while the percentage of the state's fastest growing public companies from 1998 to 2000 that were in the Health Care/Biotech/ Medical Devices sectors was 16 percent, in the 2002-2004 period that percentage had grown to 36 percent!

Audience questions

Olivieri was also glad to note that while the acquisition of Massachusetts companies by companies from outside the state generated media outcry, the fact is that Massachusetts companies are far more likely to be the buyers than the sellers. Those acquired companies then have the opportunity to reinvest the funds to develop new companies.

Medtrak's general manager, Jamie Jacobs, confers with WPI Venture Forum moderator Jim Fee.

For those who fear the bursting of the Mass real estate bubble, he also had encouraging news. Despite that fact that our population is now declining, median home prices continue to rise. This is driven by the simple demographic that the average number of people occupying a home continues to decline, thus stimulating demand for more housing. The downside of high housing prices, however, is that they have become a burdensome cost factor for doing business in the state. This may make it easier for other states to lure away our companies. The difficulties of developing Massachusetts commercial sites were also cited as a serious obstacle compared with other states.

NEXT GENERATION SURGICAL NAVIGATION?

Start-up company Medtrak is confident that they have the solution to limitations in current systems that help surgeons navigate inside the body. These systems are used to help guide drill bits during hip replacements and to ensure that neurological probes are delivered to precisely the right place in the brain.

Medtrak gets constructive criticism after their presentation. From left, General Manager Jamie Jacobs, CEO Ned Hill and panelists Tim Gerrity, CEO, Amplior Medical; Dina Routhier, Principal, MTDC; and Michael Olivieri, Publisher, Mass High Tech and Boston Business Journal.

On the down side, these systems, which use a pair of video cameras to track the location of the instruments, have the disadvantage of losing the tracking signal when someone blocks the camera's view - a frequent occurrence in a crowded operating room. Electro-magnetic technology has been introduced to alleviate this problem, but that technology has problems of its own. According to Ned Hill, Founder & CEO, Medtrak's technology tracks instrument positions by detecting slight changes in the phase of radio waves received from small transmitters attached to the instruments. He claims that their patented technology has accuracies similar to the optical systems (submm) and can be manufactured at a fraction of the cost.

WPI students network with Venture Forum members.

Medtrak will adopt the business model of their optical competitors, who sell navigation subsystems to medical device OEMs in each market segment. They intend to focus on the orthopedic market, and have begun discussions with the dozen or so companies that dominate it. The company seeks $250- 500K investment in a convertible note to carry the company through feasibility demonstrations.

Contact : Ned Hill
153 Andover Street, Suite 106
Danvers, MA 01923
Phone : (978) 739-9544
Fax : (978) 739-9545
nedhill@medtraknav.com