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Friday January 20 I had the honor to be awarded the first IMDI talent award, a competition I joined with my master thesis: the design of an osseo-integrated upper leg prosthesis fixation system. To explain the topic a bit more: I developed an implant that enables fixation of a leg prosthesis directly to the femur bone, thereby obsoleting the traditional socket fixation, which is known to cause several very distressing issues among transfemoral amputees.
The award ceremony, organized by IMDI, was a great experience! The IMDI, the Innovative Medical Device Initiative, is an organization founded to support and enhance the Dutch field of medical devices. The prize was awarded at ZonMw in The Hague during a short talent award symposium, where guests from the government, industry and academia were present. The director of ZonMw (organization that stimulates healthcare research) opened the symposium and explained that the award was introduced to stimulate young talent in the field of medical devices. Secondly a comprehensive overview of the history, goals and current impact of IMDI was presented by the scientific director of IMDI.
Next the runner-up was allowed to present his research. But because he was unable to attend the symposium, his supervisor gave the presentation (topic: new surgical tool to cut high density bone), which she did great. In the short coffee break the organization of the symposium very subtly increased the pressure by telling me that they really enjoyed the great presentation of the runner-up and that they were very interested to see how the winner would perform… Then it was my turn to give a 20 min presentation. Since the public was quite ‘high profile’ and the runner-up gave a great presentation I was slightly nervous at the beginning and very happy with the prototype of the implant that was safely there in the pocket of my jacket. This ‘element of surprise’ of my presentation was delivered to INCAS3 the afternoon before, JUST in time.
As I started to talk I quickly felt relaxed again. This even turned out to become one of the most fun presentations I held so far; people were sincerely interested in the topic, I got many questions following the presentation and nice feedback during the drinks afterwards. I also used this opportunity to shortly introduce my current research project (the SPRINT project), which yielded some interesting conversations afterwards.
After my presentation I was awarded the prize by the head of the jury Cathy van Beek; €1500 and a beautiful piece of art, which is now standing on my desk and works as a nice source of inspiration. To be awarded this prize by this jury of experts (member of the Board of the Radboud University Hospital, VP of Philips Research and a chief healthcare inspector) was an honor and truly an experience to remember.
Mike van Diest MSc