Mar 22, 2018 | By Benedict
Watershed Idea Foundry, a biomedical incubator and accelerator in San Antonio, Texas, has opened its first additive manufacturing and R&D facilities, one in California, one in Texas. Its California facility is focused on titanium 6Al4V additive manufacturing.
Watershed Idea Foundry, created by Fountainhead Investment Partners, is a biomedical incubator and accelerator that focuses on biomedical growth and innovation. It aims to transform promising ideas into viable intellectual property and products ready for the marketplace, and works with entrepreneurs and small companies that require research and development assistance to move their intellectual property forward.
With 3D printing becoming an increasingly important technology in the field of biomedicine, it makes sense that Watershed has now invested in dedicated 3D printing facilities—not one, but two: a Watershed Center of Excellence in Carlsbad, California, and a new area for research and teaching activities within the W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation on the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).
“Additive manufacturing is the future of medical device design,” commented Nick Cordaro, CEO of Watershed Idea Foundry. “Watershed is combining its expertise in both arenas to guide entrepreneurs and manufacturers through this innovative transition. These facilities will not only showcase additive manufacturing but also provide best practices, R&D, and training for the future of the industry.”
The Watershed Center of Excellence in Carlsbad comprises over 4,000 square feet of additive manufacturing space, allowing entrepreneurs and manufacturers to work with Watershed to develop products and create regulatory-compliant documentation. The Center, which will be stocked with Aconity3D laser powder bed machines, is focused on titanium 6Al4V additive manufacturing.
The UTEP activities, on the other hand, are an expansion of a long-standing relationship with the Keck Center and the Texas-based University. Watershed says the focus of this collaboration is to promote the “pursuit and development of research, knowledge, and education in the areas of advanced manufacturing, additive manufacturing, medical device manufacturing, and Structural Encoding.”
“The expanded relationship is a perfect illustration of how academic institutions can partner with private industry to advance both educational opportunities for students and attract economic development to the area,” said Cordaro. “At UTEP, we will pool our resources and bring in leading experts from many fields to spark the creative minds of these energetic students. There’s no doubt that combining existing expertise with new thinking in this way will lead to truly innovative approaches to medical device design as well as many other collateral uses.”
Watershed is now beginning a site selection process for its main campus, a facility that will provide office space for companies in the Watershed incubator or accelerator programs as well as Fountainhead portfolio companies.
This imposing main campus will be around 10 times bigger than Watershed’s Carlsbad location and will include “high-volume additive manufacturing” based on the perfected process controls developed within the Carlsbad facility, as well as full regulatory compliance implementations for the organization and other Fountainhead portfolio companies.
Watershed’s services include consulting, patent portfolio development, and concept commercialization.
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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