UrikaTech
Team UrikaTech is working to reduce incidence of catheter blockages and catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) in long-term catheterised patients.
What drew you to the problem you are working to solve in Biodesign?
At the time, we had a list of unmet clinical needs and during the needs selection process, the market size for urinary catheters was the most viable. We have been warned that the urinary catheters market is really competitive but we love a good challenge and decided to go with it. - Bernadette
Urikatech (L-R) Evan Savigni, Bernadette Wong, Business mentor Dr Helga Mikkelsen, Amanda Cleaver, Dr Chris Hill, Alumni mentor Dr Daphne Lakhiani. Not pictured: Ryan White.
What have you learned/gained from the Biodesign process?
I’ve gained a thorough understanding of how to identify unmet clinical needs, and how to invent solutions that address these needs, as well as how to implement these solutions in a way that suits the dynamic healthcare landscape. - Ryan
What has been your favourite thing about the Biodesign experience?
It’s been a great opportunity to increase our networks across the innovation pathway and sector. - Amanda
What do you want to be doing 10 years from now?
Working in the innovation sector, of course! - Amanda
What would be your advice to someone considering taking the course in 2022?
My advice would be to investigate clinical problems with an open mind. I found as an engineer I was immediately drawn to solutions for problems we identified, however this mind-set that we are used to infringes on true creative thinking as well as proper scoping of a problem. - Evan
Amanda Cleaver
Dr Amanda Cleaver is Director of the Raine Medical Research Foundation, a not-for-profit that distributes funding towards medical research in WA. Amanda has a PhD in cancer biology and has worked for a biotech company and in several postdoctoral positions. She has an MBA, Australasian Research Management Society Advanced-level accreditation, and is a graduate of the AICD.
Bernadette Wong
Bernadette is a biomedical science honours student at Murdoch University and Telethon Kids Institute. She is interested in being a part of the challenge to improve the standard and delivery of healthcare in low-resource settings. She believes that while medtech innovation is a bridge between scientific research and clinical care, this advancement should also be designed with reliability, sophistication, and flexibility in mind.
Ryan White
Ryan has completed a degree in Engineering and Biomedical Science at UWA and is currently completing a Masters degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Ryan currently works part-time on subsea robotics research and development as a Remote Systems Engineer, as well as the Operations Manager for the National Australia-China Youth Association and is an experienced software developer for web-based applications.
Evan Savigni
Evan is a biomedical engineering student at UWA. With prior experience at OBELL and a current role interning with Perth Biodesign's previous winner, Veintech, he is excited about the growing opportunities in the medtech field. At VeinTech, Evan assists in prototyping and investigation of regulatory pathways for the start-up.
Chris Hill
Christopher is an Emergency Physician with 20 years’ experience in healthcare. He has been involved with innovative endeavours in the past including ShoeSecure (a protective device used to prevent horses from losing shoes) and his personal project, the Bougie Loader - a medical device to improve efficiency of emergency intubation for which Chris was a WA Innovator of the Year semi-finalist.