Speakers List

Simon Coveney

Simon Coveney

Job Title

Minister for Foreign Affairs & Trade with responsibility for Brexit & Deputy Leader of Fine Gael

Company

Cork South Central

Bio

Appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade with responsibility for Brexit on 14 June 2017.

Appointed Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government on May 6th 2016.

Appointed as Minister for Agriculture, Marine and Food on March 9th 2011 and Minister for Defence on July 11th 2014

Elected to the Dáil (Irish Parliament) in 1998 as one of Fine Gael's youngest TD's. Since then, he has held shadow ministries in the following areas: Drugs and Youth Affairs; Communications, Marine and Natural Resources; Transport and the Marine.

Mr. Coveney chaired the Fine Gael Policy Development Committee, prior to the 2011 General Election.

Elected to the European Parliament in 2004 and was a member of the EPP-ED group. He was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee. He was also a substitute member on the Fisheries Committee. Mr. Coveney was the author of the European Parliament's Annual Report on Human Rights in the World for the year 2004 and again for 2006.

Member of Cork County Council and the Southern Health Board from 1999 to 2003.

A keen fan of all competitive sport, he played rugby for Garryowen, Cork Constitution and Crosshaven Rugby Club. In 1997/8 he led the "Sail Chernobyl Project" which involved sailing 30,000 miles around the world for charity.

Mr. Coveney continues to be involved in the running of a family farm in County Cork.

Eugene Canavan

Eugene Canavan

Job Title

Medical Design Director

Company

Design Partners

Bio

Eugene Canavan is the Director of the Design Partners Healthcare and Science team. With over 25 years product development experience, Eugene is an extremely accomplished industrial designer and a recognised expert in Human Factors Engineering. He has been the recipient of numerous international awards including the prestigious IF Product and Red Dot Design Awards in Europe, the Good Design Award in Japan and the American IDEA award. Eugene is also a guest lecturer at the Centre for Medical Device Design at NCAD and as an external examiner for Product Design and Innovation at Carlow IT

Florian Stefanov

Florian Stefanov

Job Title

Technology Leader & Research Engineer

Company

Medical & Engineering Technologies (MET) Centre

Bio

Dr Stefanov is a Biomedical Engineer and Technology Leader of the MET Gateway, with over 10 years' experience in the design and fabrication processes of patient-specific cardiovascular simulators, which replicate critical scenarios needed for medical devices validation and performance testing, and endovascular techniques optimisation. He is an expert in medical data analysis and the application of computational techniques on the medical data. He has 11 peer reviewed publications and over 20 conference proceedings. In 2015, he won 1st prize in the posters competition of the International Society for Vascular Surgery (ISVS), Athens, Greece, presenting a computational study on aortic arch aneurysms endovascular latest treatments.

Johann Harer

Johann Harer

Job Title

CEO, Human Technology

Company

Styria

Bio

Dr. Harer received his Master's degree in Electrical Engineering at the Technical University of Graz in 1979. Seven years later he became a Dr. of Law from the Karl-Franzens University Graz. He gained invaluable industry experience for almost 35 years with various roles at AVL Medical Systems, AEG and Roche Diagnostics. He was appointed as CEO of human.technology.Styria in Nov 2014, a PPP-membership organisation, to coordinate and promote the health tech activities (from research to industry) in the area of Styria / Austria.A leader in his field, he has spoken at numerous prominent conferences and is the author of a "best practice" book "Anforderungen an Medizinprodukte" and co-author of "50 Jahre Innovation in der Medizintechnik".

Johannes Atze

Johannes Atze

Job Title

Founder & CEO

Company

CAT Production

Bio

Johannes P.G. Atze studied computer science at the High School of Munich. After graduating he worked as research assistant at IABG mbH, making ray-tracing algorithms marketable on supercomputers. He became product manager and product designer at SPEA Software AG, the pioneer of graphics card development in 1990.1993 he developed CAT PRODUCTION as the go-to brand in Germany for visualizing complex technical and scientific subjects. Since 2010 CAT PRODUCTION focused on developing medical content under the CAT MEDIC brand name. From 2010 to 2013, the company built a huge image library for SpingerMedizin as the exclusive partner. In 2014 Johannes Atze brought together Business Angels to launch the start-up CAT PRODUCTION GmbH to grow further into the market of medical visualizations, using innovative presentation techniques, including 360 degrees virtual reality.

Joseph Doyle

Joseph Doyle

Job Title

Intellectual Property Manager

Company

Enterprise Ireland

Bio

Joe is Intellectual Property Manager with Enterprise Ireland, where he works to support Irish companies to implement IP strategies in support of their business development plans.. He holds a BSc in Materials Science from the University of Limerick, postgraduate diplomas in Strategy and Innovation and Organisational Behaviour and an MSc in Business Practice from the IMI and UCC. His dissertation title was 'Capturing Creativity: the role of intellectual asset management in scaling strategies for innovative Irish SMEs'. He worked as a research scientist for 15 years at the University of Limerick where, as well as the research activity, he successfully executed a number of patent filings, licence/assignment agreements and was cofounder of an IP rich University spin-out company. As IP manager in EI, since 2012, his responsibilities include: raising awareness of the role of IP in innovation; advising policy makers on IP related reforms; representing Irish interests in EU IP support programmes and he is a member the International Standards Organisation 'Innovation Management Standard' Technical Committee (TC279).

Ken Block

Ken Block

Job Title

Consultant

Company

Ken Block Consulting

Bio

Ken Block is an internationally recognized expert in FDA regulations for medical devices. He has been an invited speaker in a half-dozen countries on three continents, covering topics such as medical device software validation, 510(k) applications, US market entry strategy, and others. His company has offices in both the Dallas and Tokyo metro areas, providing regulatory and quality system support to companies worldwide.

Marcos Garcia Pedraza

Marcos Garcia Pedraza

Job Title

Biotech & Medtech Expert

Company

Managing Partner, orgart Ventures & Chairman, Patria Digitalis

Bio

Marcos is founder and managing partner of orgart VENTURES, founder and chairman of Patria Digitalis, has been trained in Life Sciences at ETH Zürich (MSc), in Business Economics at University of St. Gallen (PhD), in Entrepreneurship at Babson College, honoured with the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Award (START), with the NETS Award (New Behavior) and the Telefonica VIDA Award (etoy).Marcos has over 20 years of entrepreneurial experience in the Biotech and Medtech industry, and has start-up high-tech companies as founder (NewBehavior, EvalueScience, orgart, Patria Digitalis), investor or coach (Birdly, Creopitx, Cytosurge, PIQUR, Proteomedix, UrbanFarmers).

Miguel Herrera

Miguel Herrera

Job Title

Director Med & Cons Technologies

Company

European Patent Office

Bio

Miguel started his career with a Forest Engineering degree by the Polytechnic University of Madrid. He spent some years taking up different duties in a wide variety of industry, from working as a forester, to an assistant to a commercial attaché and in the automotive industry, supplying steel forged rawlings for critical car parts. Miguel joined the European Patent Office in 1987 as a patent examiner, a job which he carried out for over 18 years, with a time spent in between when he joined the International Cooperation Department of the EPO. Miguel became a director in the EPO in 2005, in the area of diagnosis and therapy devices where he now leads a team of 55 examiners.

Paul Rowden

Paul Rowden

Job Title

Consultant

Company

Procorre

Bio

I am a global Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs specialist with over twenty years' experience in the Medical Industry.Accredited as an Internationally Certified Principal Auditor, I have been instrumental in Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs strategy for large medical manufacturers. With an impeccable record I have successfully guided over 400+ clients to ISO, FDA, Canadian and CE compliance with the development and improvement of Quality Management Systems (QMS) and Technical Files. I am also the Director of my own company European Device Solutions Ltd.

Seamus Brown

Seamus Brown

Job Title

Head of Industry Partnerships

Company

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

Bio

Seamus is Head of Industry Partnership at The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. His role involves connecting RCSI researcher/clinician expertise with industry need and identifying appropriate funding mechanisms to support this engagement. Since taking up this role in January 2015, Seamus has played a key role in delivering a step-change in RCSI Industry Engagement activities. His current focus is on building large scale strategic partnerships with industry aligned to RCSI's research strengths. Between 2007-2014, Seamus worked at as technology transfer officer at the University of Limerick. Seamus excelled in this multi-faceted role that extended well beyond the traditional technology transfer role of patent portfolio management and commercialisation. He led complex negotiations on a significant number of UL's high value, research commercialisation agreements and played a catalytic role in the formation of a significant number of strategic partnerships between UL and industry. The quality of some of these partnerships has been recognised at the IMDA annual awards 2013 and 2015. Prior to working in UL, Seamus completed a PhD at Trinity College Dublin before undertaking a post-doctoral fellowship and working as a lecturer on the Trinity Access Programme. During this time, he founded and managed two start-up companies.

Sean Cummings

Sean Cummings

Job Title

Partner & Laura Kehoe, Director

Company

Keltie

Bio

Sean deals with all forms of intellectual property but spends most of his time on patents and designs. His patent practice extends over a huge range of technologies, from catalysts to computers. He is also involved with designs ranging from textiles to logos.The engineering science element of Sean's degree covered subjects as diverse as gas turbines and power transmission. He has applied that broad knowledge to patents in numerous electromechanical fields including refrigeration, heat/power plants and production engineering. Sean has a particular interest in automotive technology and has handled patent matters relating to engine configurations, exhaust systems, fuel systems, transmissions, suspension systems, braking and vehicle accessories.Also having a substantial involvement in trade marks, Sean deals with some of the UK's best-known brands. He contributed a chapter on evidence of use to The Trade Mark Handbook published jointly by CIPA and ITMA.Sean has in-depth experience of contentious and non-contentious matters extending across all areas of IP, including litigation, dispute resolution, due diligence and investor advice. He has appeared as an advocate before the UKIPO in patent, design and trade mark disputes and before EPO Examination Divisions, Opposition Divisions and Boards of Appeal.The management element of Sean's degree has developed into a keen interest in management and commercial issues, both within the firm and outside.

Susan Murphy

Susan Murphy

Job Title

European Medical Device Operations Manager

Company

NSAI

Bio

Susan has over 20 years' experience in the Medical Device sector with NSAI in various roles including technical file reviewer and site auditor. Prior to this Susan gained extensive experience in both the Medical Device and Pharmaceutical industry. As European Medical Device Operations Manager, Susan is regarded as a medical device expert in the areas of European regulatory requirements, standards application and assessment in the field of Medical Devices and Quality and Risk management systems. She has extensive experience in sterilisation, biocompatibility and regulations including MDD 93/42/EEC, IVDD 98/79/EC, AIMD 90/385/EEC, 722/2012.

Kevin Madden

Kevin Madden

Job Title

Medical Device Product Specialist

Company

BSI Group

Bio

Kevin is a Product Expert & Scheme Manager with the Orthopaedic & Dental Team at BSI Medical Devices, where he manages a portfolio of medical device manufacturers and is involved in the review and evaluation of cutting edge innovation and state of the art orthopaedic and dental technologies. He holds a BEng in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Limerick and postgraduate diplomas in Project Management from IPMI. Kevin is an accomplished biomedical engineering professional with over 12 years medtech industry experience and a proven track record of success in leadership roles in the research, development and commercialisation of medical technology. Prior to joining BSI in 2015, he was Managing Director of PBC Biomed where he led a team providing bioengineering and project management consultancy services to medical device manufacturers. He also worked in biomaterials research and development for 7 years at Stryker Orthopaedics where he developed a number of commercially successful bone graft substitute products.

Kieran Ring

Kieran Ring

Job Title

CEO Global Institute of Logistics Panelists

Company

CUBE

Bio

Kieran Ring is the Chief Executive Officer of the Global Institute of Logistics which he founded in 2003 with members of the Global Logistics Forum under the Chairmanship of the late Robert V. Delaney (Bob), the renowned US author and logistician. The Institute has worked since its inception to promote cross stakeholder collaboration in the global logistics chain. He was Executive Director of the European Institute of Transport for 7 years prior to the founding of GIL.

Kieran began his career in the early 1980s working in the European multinational manufacturing sector. By the late 1980s he was working as a publisher in the trade, technical and scientific media where he was directly responsible for journals and magazines, which documented the rise of foreign direct investment (FDI). In 1989 he was appointed Deputy Publisher to the Paris-based Eurexpansion Group with responsibility for Ireland's 'Sunday Business Post'. In 1995 he was appointed Executive Director of the European Institute of Transport.

Paul Anglim

Paul Anglim

Job Title

Strategic Development Lead

Company

BioInnovate NUI Galway

Bio

Paul's background is in the life sciences, with a BSc in Biotechnology from NUI Galway, and a PhD in Molecular Biology from University of Southern California, where his work focused on biomarker discovery for early detection of cancer. With a preference for writing over experiments, he went on to work in medical communications in both academic and pharmaceutical settings, and also spent some time in consulting. Upon returning home, Paul joined BioInnovate Ireland, and has been involved with the programme since its inception. In addition to BioInnovate, Paul is involved in Business Creation with a pan-European Accelerator with EIT Health, and lectures in Molecular Biology and Biology at NUI Galway.

Carlos Garcia Pando

Carlos Garcia Pando

Job Title

Founder

Company

sintermedical

Bio

Carlos Garcia Pando has been involved in the Additive Manufacturing space since 2004, dealing with polymer and metal parts manufacturing for different sectors, including aerospace, automotive, energy, electronics, and medical devices. He has been an active speaker in Europe and has participated in EU-funded research projects in this and other areas. Carlos has a total of 30 years' experience in R&D and technical sales. He is the founder and Managing and Technology director of sintermedical ltd, a contract manufacturing company in the field of Orthopaedic and Trauma implants, offering turnkey projects from design with advanced porous features to serial manufacturing, only possible to make by Additive Manufacturing technologies. Carlos also has experience in Quality Assurance, R&D and Project Management, Automation, Manufacturing, Safety and Health, among others.

Santiago Martin Laguna

Santiago Martin Laguna

Bio

Santiago Martin Laguna developed his career in engineering in the field of design, holding a degree and a postgrad in Mechanical Engineering, as well as a Master's Degree in Industrial Design Management. He has ten years' experience in Design for Additive Manufacturing. He is co-founder and principal researcher at sintermedical ltd., as well as founder and manager at "vortica: cognitive engineering for design" since 2010.

Santiago has done consultancy to companies exploring the benefits of combining algorithms and design, genetic and performance-driven design and shape optimization through automatic design processes. He has lectured at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia for two years as part of the Digital Techtonics studio, at the Laboratorul de Arhitectura in Rumania for the "Optimizing Ideas" seminar, at University College of London in "eco-digital design" and at Oviedo University in courses, seminars, and Master's Degrees (Creative 3D Printing, Generative Design with Grasshopper, Optimisation in design, and others). Santiago is currently involved as a professor at "Bee a Doer" Master's degree program from the Oviedo University and starting up the Media Lab at the same University.

Eileen Healy

Eileen Healy

Job Title

Partner

Company

Deloitte

Bio

Eileen leads the delivery of risk, internal audit and related services to Life Science clients operating in the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, and medical device sectors. Eileen's clients operate in a highly regulated industries, which requires a professional services partner who understands how to bring insight and add value. Eileen has extensive experience in the provision of financial, technical and operational internal audits for clients who operate in such highly regulated environments.

In addition to the provision of risk and internal audit services, Eileen also leads the delivery of technical assistance on validation including computerised systems validation (CSV) and compliance monitoring for adherence to national and international regulations relating to interactions with healthcare professionals (HCPs), and patient organisations as well as promotional activity and anit-bribery and corruption (ABC) programmes.

Fiona Maini

Fiona Maini

Job Title

Director

Company

Deloitte

Bio

Fiona is a Director with around nineteen years' experience within the Pharmaceutical and Chemicals industries. Fiona currently leads the Centre for Regulatory Excellence for Life Sciences.

Fiona commenced her career as a scientist working in a research and development based environment.
Over the last fifteen years with Intrasphere Technologies and Deloitte Fiona has primarily been working in the Life Sciences industry working on multiple projects relating to the management, oversight and strategic direction with regards to Pharmaceutical business processes and systems implementation. Fiona has performed multiple roles from advisory, programme/project management, CSV validation, quality and compliance management

Fiona's focus and specialisation over the past few years has been on the changing regulations and supporting pharmaceutical and regulatory organisations through planning and preparation with particular respect to the new European pharmacovigilance legislation, GVP, GCP and ICSR, XEVMPD, IDMPeSubmissions, eCTD formats.

Donna Hemphill

Donna Hemphill

Job Title

Senior Manager

Company

Delloitte

Bio

Donna started her career as a Manager in a customs broker and gained a wide knowledge of customs procedures and regimes involving duty suspension and avoidance, customs calssification and rules of origin over a wide range of industries.

More recently, she was responsible for customs compliance in a global tobacco products manufacturer where she gained knowledge of excise regimes in relation to tobacco and alcohol products including EMCS and Registered Consignor/Consignee. She also led the AEO accreditation process and developed a robust internal compliance program to include internal controls and monitoring.

Donna had recently gained a Distinction in the Diploma in World customs Compliance and Regulations with the Institute of Export.

BA(Hons) Business Studies with Japanese

Andrew O’Reilly

Andrew O’Reilly

Job Title

Senior Manager

Company

Deloitte

Bio

Andrew is a specialist Research and Development tax credit advisor working in this area over 7 years. Andrews's background is a career spanning 20 years in ICT (specifically business systems and ERP solutions). A seasoned commercial professional and expert presenter, Andrew conveys clarity from complexity and assists clients in understanding the important detail surrounding the incentives landscape.

The Gi3 (Global investment and innovation incentives) team within which Andrew works, is the largest global network of RD&I professionals with over 50 jurisdictions served. Gi3 provide clients with a global view on RD&I incentive availability, connecting all stakeholders across Government agencies and academic institutions, in a complex funding environment.

Deloitte's broader services will in turn help clients consider the impact of incentives on the wider tax, financial and commercial activities they undertake.