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| KITTS leads to further collaboration. A successful KITTS project has allowed a company at the forefront of innovation to take another step forward. Like many companies in the Redditch area, Surgicraft Ltd started life as a needle manufacturer in 1924. Since then it has kept moving with the times and now leads the field in the manufacture of niche orthopaedic implants for spinal and soft tissue repair, along with associated surgical instumentation. In an ever-changing market place, Surgicraft has kept ahead of the game by being continually flexible and willing to adopt new technology. Collaboration with universities is a vital part of this and the KITTS scheme allowed the company to take on a postgraduate - Graham Aitchison - whilst working with the University of Birmingham to develop a proposal for a two-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership programme. The KITTS placement and the subsequent KTP will cement what was already a productive relationship. The project will see the University of Birmingham work with Graham and Surgicraft to develop and implement a new design process. The University of Birmingham's knowlege of medical device design and development combined with Surgicraft's experience in the global marketplace make this a project with great potential. "I'd just completed a PHD in the characterisation of a degradable composite for surgical applications and was looking for real-world experience in the medical devices market, so the KITTS placement came at just the right time", says Graham. For Surgicraft too the placement proved very useful as John Parry, Product Development Manager at Surgicraft explains: "the KITTS scheme was straightforward to access and allowed us to develop a successful KTP proposal without delaying our product development process." |
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