Nick Allan, StarFish Medical Bio Services Manager, will present a guest lecture on “Project Management: Lessons and Examples from Industry” to 4th year capstone design courses ECE and BME499 at the University of Victoria on June 22, 2022. The University of Victoria is ranked #1 among comprehensive universities in medical/science grants per faculty (Maclean’s […]
I would like to take us all back to high school Biology for a moment to remember the concept of emergent properties. These properties only come out when individual parts start interacting with each other in any given system. Take common salt for example. The fact that it tastes salty does not mean that the sodium and chlorine which make up salt also taste salty. Saltiness […]
At StarFish Medical, we work with clients who have ground-breaking ideas and technologies that improve patient outcomes including saving lives. This makes for very exciting and fulfilling work, but new development also means there is no boilerplate plan that can be pulled off the shelf and executed. Our project management approach builds on PMI (Project […]
The term “PMO” (Project Management Office) appears ever more frequently in engineering firms, but is still not well understood. So what is a PMO, how do they impact medical device development, and what does the PMO look like at StarFish? In other words, why bother? For organizations that do not use a PMO, there are […]
I have taken part in a large number of brainstorming sessions with a variety of techniques. In general I am usually disappointed with the quality of the solutions that are generated. As a facilitator I will exit the brainstorm with a fist full of ideas and then spend time dissecting them and more often than […]
Around 10 years ago, I set up a company with the entrepreneurial Professor from my PhD. After recruiting an MBA as chief executive and performing very many pitches, we eventually secured seed funding then series A funding to develop a novel medical device technology. The development was a new application of an existing technology and […]
What makes a project successful or not? A seasoned project manager, charismatic leader, low risk technology, spin on existing proven technology or the right discipline resource mix? Well, maybe it’s all of those and a bit of chance, but it’s most importantly the right attitude. Let me elaborate. In my last blog, I covered the […]
Think back to your last job interview… in all likelihood you were asked to describe a difficult situation you faced and how you tackled it, or to explain your greatest weaknesses, or a major failure you encountered in your career. You squirm in your chair and try to think of a positive way to spin […]
Are you expecting your engineers to cover both innovation and execution tasks? Are you in fact leaving a lot of potential success on the table? I used to believe that a single point of accountability from beginning to end of a project was ideal. My confidence was shaken however after seeing projects that either failed […]
Developing a complex medical device spans a significant period of time and a significant expertise spectrum. Early ideation and technology development through transfer to volume manufacturing covers a tremendous range of skill sets. Staged product development as employed by StarFish has some unique benefits for dealing with the changing skill sets required throughout the development […]
In my last blog, I talked about risk management, extreme risk management from the device perspective, manufacturing perspective and project management perspective. Through the risk planning, risk engagement itself and mitigation implementation, I have learned that it is very important to communicate to team members, project owner and any other important stakeholders. Managing the expectations […]
We take risks every day, often without realizing it. From crossing the street, eating new food, accepting a new assignment, using power tools, to saving important data on the network, we accept the possibility of an adverse event. Some risks require little more than an awareness of them, while other require in depth reflection – […]