Hoo-kOn success at the Lord Stafford Awards 2008

The Lord Stafford Awards exist to recognise and encourage the development of collaborative relationships between West Midlands Businesses and Universities.

MDTi submitted their entry in June 2008. They have survived 2 rounds of judging, competing with 50+ other entries, and are now battling it out with 4 other firms to win the “Achievement in Innovation” category.

MDTi’s entry is the Hoo-kOn IV Community Infusion Stand. Their collaboration was with the University of Wolverhampton, through the business-university collaboration network the West Midlands Technology Network (WMTN). The Hoo-kOn is a modular, portable IV drip stand that allows nursing staff to safely administer treatment to patients in their own homes and is lightweight enough to take from one home to another.

The idea came from a team of Wolverhampton City Primary Care Trust nurses. The difficult process of turning a bright idea into a product ready for the market has meant some of the best innovations by doctors and nurses in the NHS have not been shared. Through the WMTN’s university network, MDTi worked in partnership with the University of Wolverhampton to ensure that this market opportunity for the IV Drip Stand was not lost.

The WMTN is a unique collaborative university-business network, partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). It provides small and medium sized firms with hands-on support and access to technology and specialist skills which helps them to develop new product offerings. The WMTN partners include the University of Wolverhampton, Birmingham City University, Coventry University, Staffordshire University, Walsall College and Coventry City Council.

As a small firm, MDTi did not have the technical resources to produce a prototype and test the device, but by working with the WMTN partner, the Centre for Engineering Excellence (CEE) at the University of Wolverhampton, the firm was able to develop the stand ready to launch into the UK market.

Shirley Atkin, Operations Director for MDTi, said: “A service like the WMTN is very important for small companies like ours, a flexible and responsive offering that ensures we can move quickly and stay ahead of the market.”

Winners of the Lord Stafford Awards will be announced at the Lord Stafford Awards ceremony on 13th November 2008 at Worcester Cathedral.