Introducing and embedding innovation practices in a UK medical engineering degree course

Abstract

Exposing medical engineering students to innovation and entrepreneurial practices and training them in concepts and models encountered in industry in a simulated start-up company environment allowed students to explore whether this career route was of interest to them and is expected to enhance the employability of all participants. A module, MedTech BEST (Business and Entrepreneurial Skills Training), was developed to focus on the needs of the medical technology industry sector and piloted at the University of Leeds in 2016/2017. Students acquired the skills and knowledge to be able to pitch a hypothetical medical device product together with its supporting business case, developed over the course of the module, to a panel of experienced judges.