
Jess Hickman and Mark Drlik
Annual medical device company award ceremony honors outstanding achievements and contributions
VICTORIA, British Columbia, December 7, 2013 – StarFish Medical honored two employees for outstanding contributions to the company’s success at the annual StarFish Christmas Dinner party. Mark Drlik, Mechanical Engineer and Project Manager at StarFish Medical, received the Chris Denny Memorial Award for Innovation and Jess Hickman, Office Manager at StarFish Medical, received the StarFish Keep Calm and Carry On award.
The Chris Denny Memorial Award for Innovation is awarded each year to someone from the StarFish group of companies who has immersed themselves deeply in a technical problem in order to find a brilliant solution to a client design challenge as-stated, or more deeply. Chris Denny was a long-time StarFish Mechanical Designer known for his brilliant solutions to the most challenging projects in ophthalmologic ultrasound, intraosseous infusion, electro-surgery and intravascular surgery. Nominees are solicited from the StarFish Group employees and the recipient is chosen by a leadership committee.
Mark’s nomination explains his contribution: “Mark Drlik as a worthy recipient for this award, namely for the innovative work he has provided the Micropharma project. More specifically the architecture of the device, sealing off critical electronic components [building tools and casting them in-house], considering power management for the test duration, and working through and understanding test data. And it all happens in a 3.34cc volume, weighing in at a hefty 4.4g.”
John Walmsley, VP Product Development, presented the award to Mark noting: “Innovation is core to what we give our clients and the technology challenges that Mark has worked through this year exemplifies that. Amongst all the innovations that we have made in the last year, Mark and his team have encapsulated so many in such a small device that we had to give him the award.”
Jess Hickman received the “Keep Calm and Carry On” award for embodying the spirit and attributes of the honor. Selected and presented by StarFish Group President, Scott Phillips, the annual award honors an employee who rises to challenging times with compassion and grace, making employees, customers, and leadership feel more confident, positive, and well looked after.
Jess was chosen for her work on a wide variety of projects – including a major move within our facilities, real estate leasing, IT infrastructure, company meetings, mailing lists and procedures, charity fund raising, employee HR, Advisory Board, and “generally keeping things together”.
In presenting the award, Scott spoke of his gratitude: “Jess always know what’s going on in the company and what’s needed to keep things running smoothly. She puts in all kinds of hours to make sure that situations and personnel are properly taken care of—she keeps the day to day wheels on the company. Everything goes well around her because she anticipates everything so well.”
About StarFish Medical
StarFish Medical is a boutique Medical Device Design company with a full complement of design, development, and manufacturing services. Using the PathFinder Process, product definition, technical engineering, product development, prototype and volume production are delivered in an ISO 13485 certified and FDA registration environment including a Class 100,000 Clean Room, with capabilities up to class 10,000. StarFish Medical helps clients solve the right problem with a multi-disciplinary team of engineers, physicists, and industrial designers who successfully navigate regulatory hurdles for clients across North America.