New Hub to boost Victoria’s medtech expertise

Image: Professor Andrea O’Connor and Dr Erol Harvey

The Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery (ACMD) has become home to a new $10.77 million education hub focused on growing skills and start-ups across the medtech industry.

The new Victorian Medtech Skills and Device Hub will bring together businesses, universities and other education providers to develop training courses, degrees and internships in medical technology.

The Hub, which is to be embedded in the new ACMD building that is currently under construction at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne's Fitzroy campus, is delivered by a consortium led by the University of Melbourne. The consortium also includes the ACMD, Swinburne University of Technology and RMIT University.

“The Hub is an important initiative to address skills gaps by further developing working professionals and student knowledge and capabilities in medtech manufacturing,” said Dr Erol Harvey, CEO of the ACMD.

“The training and courses that it will provide perfectly complement and support research and activities based on real-life health needs that are being undertaken by the ACMD and our partners.”

Building local and global strength

The Hub will help position Victoria as a leader in medtech manufacturing capability and support local companies to develop and create medtech products onshore, as well as expand exports to a booming global market.

It will boost Victoria’s competitive strength at a global level and provide a growing source of industry-ready employees through the training offered as part of the Hub’s ACMD Academy program that will address skills gaps currently restricting business and sector growth. Another key operating program being offered through the Hub is ACMD Navigator – a centralised medical device engagement office for Victoria that aims to identify skills gaps, support industry-aligned course design, advise students and facilitate ongoing engagement between education providers and industry.

This program will also help emerging companies navigate the various challenges in commercial development.

Hub Co-Director and ACMD Shanahan Chair in Frontier Medical Solutions, Professor Andrea O’Connor, said the Hub will benefit from its co-location at the ACMD that brings together researchers, clinicians, engineers, students and industry to work collaboratively on projects to improve patient outcomes.

“It will be enormously exciting to see innovations nurtured through to commercial production, to benefit the public, new ventures and Australia’s medtech industry,” said Prof O’Connor.

Image: Render of new ACMD building

Supporting the Hub’s growth

The Hub was officially launched by the Minister for Industry and Innovation, Ben Carroll, and is backed by the Victorian Government’s Australian Medtech Manufacturing Centre that is providing up to $5.75 million towards the initiative.

Local medtech companies, including Neo-Bionica, which is co-located at St Vincent’s Hospital Fitzroy campus, Seer Medical and Trajan, along with RMIT University, Swinburne University of Technology and MTPConnect are already supporting the Hub, with more partners set to join as it expands.