A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome . . . to the Medical Design Excellence Awards
Historically, designers of medical products have not received a great deal of recognition. That is somewhat understandable: until quite recently, a well-designed medical product was one that performed its function. While medical outcome remains the touchstone of industry, engineering and design innovations that cut manufacturing costs, introduce ease-of-use features, or simply add aesthetic appeal have become significant factors in the success of a new product. So it should come as no surprise that industry response to the first annual Medical Design Excellence Awards was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. One of the award recipients at New York City's Plaza Hotel in June summed up the general mood by praising the event for recognizing "the scientists and engineers who are often stuck in the basement." To my mind, the competition did have one drawback: to be eligible, products had to be commercially available in the United States. While a handful of European companies were able to meet this part of the criteria and enter their products, this stipulation effectively shut out some firms that may have deserved a seat in the winners circle, benediction from US FDA notwithstanding. Well, I'm delighted to report that Canon Communications llc, organizer of the awards programme and publisher of EMDM, has opened the 1999 competition to products that are commercially available worldwide.
Endorsed and administered by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), the 1999 Medical Design Excellence Awards will acknowledge design and engineering excellence in finished medical devices and packaging (suppliers of materials and components also are entitled to submit entries on behalf of device manufacturers). A panel of experts, which will include such knowledgeable industry figures as vice president of Siemens Design und Messe GmbH (München, Germany) Christophe Böninger, will judge products based on innovation, advancement of the state of the art, cost-effectiveness in use or manufacture, intuitive user interface features, and their impact on health care. According to one member of the 1998 judging panel, a common trait shared by the winning products in this year's competition—and one that will certainly be a benchmark for the 1999 crop—as their "completeness," a seamless marriage of form and function. "The aesthetics, the human factors, the engineering, the execution—everything was there," says Rich Valiga, senior account manager in industrial design at GE Medical Systems (Waukesha, WI, USA).
Does that describe one of your devices? If so, read on.
Detailed information about the competition along with entry forms will be available at MEDTEC, the Medical Equipment Design & Technology Exhibition and Conference held 7–9 October at Amsterdam's RAI International Exhibition and Congress Centre. Programme director Amy Allen will be present at the Canon Communications booth during the event to answer any questions. Complete rules and entry forms can also be downloaded from Medical Device Link at http://www.devicelink.com/awards/ or requested by sending E-mail to amy.allen@cancom.com or by sending a fax to her attention at +1 310 3924920.
The deadline for entries is 8 February 1999. The winning products will be announced at a gala dinner ceremony concurrent with Medical Design and Manufacturing East 99 in New York City, 25–27 May, and will be published in EMDM.
On a personal note, I am looking forward to next year's gala banquet. I have a feeling that I will be applauding some EMDM subscribers as they emerge from their basement, Keller, or sous-sol and step up to the spotlight.
