An opportunity that the current medical device industry [and most industries for that matter] has not yet tapped into is the growing population of the retired professionals. As the baby-boomers are moving towards retirement, the number of professional retirees that have relevant and applicable background will grow considerably. This voluntary removal from the work force also means the loss of the tremendous experience these individuals possess. This experience, forged over many years of making mistakes and generating successes would be invaluable for the new medical device professional if there was some way to transfer that knowledge.
Brad Slaker’s father and mentor is a ‘restlessly’ retired engineer having had a career that spanned 50+ years. Watching his father reluctantly retire along with his father’s entire history of experiences and knowledge was a pivotal motivation for Brad to find a way to tap into this untapped, extremely valuable resource, America’s retired population.
DesignWise Medical brings together these two groups, retirees and future professionals [students], in a framework that will foster and allow for the transfer of the retained wisdom to the students. The benefit to the students is clear but there is also a benefit to be had for the retirees, namely, an opportunity to stay engaged in industry while simultaneously giving back to the next generation of medical device professionals as well as the children positively impacted by the devices that these two groups help design and develop.