University of Minnesota Gets Million Dollar Grant

Minnesota has awarded its state university’s Medical Devices Center $1.08 million to build a new facility on the Minneapolis campus’ West Bank. The funds come from the Minnesota Department of Employment of Economic Development (DEED).

The University of Minnesota will split the cost of the center expansion, as it will total as estimated $2 million. The Medical Devices Center has outgrown it current space on the East Bank, and this expansion will double its size. The expansion will take up some parking lot space on the campus.

Arthur Erdman, director of the center, says the extra space will be used to develop new technology. “The medical devices center has been the location where we can take new ideas and kind of dream about how to put it together with the needs that we hear from our medical professionals,” Erdman said. “I really think this is an example of how the state government through the DEED office and the university can work together to really stimulate a very strong segment of the state of Minnesota economy.”

“The medical devices sector is a vital industry in Minnesota, employing more than 29,000 people, the highest number per capita in the United States,” said DEED Commissioner Mark Phillips. “The Medical Devices Center is critical to the state’s infrastructure, serving as an integral partner to industry and an incubator for innovative new devices.”     

The Medical Devices Center is well respected not only in Minneapolis but worldwide as well. Minnesota itself is a medtech hub, home to many large medical device companies including St. Jude Medical and Medtronic, headquartered in St. Paul and Minneapolis respectively. According to Minnesota’s Star Tribune, the center is responsible for many products that eventually are licensed to Minnesota companies. Some of the services the center provides are laboratories, equipment, support facilities, training programs and expert personnel.

“The Medical Devices Center is a great example of how a partnership among the University of Minnesota, state of Minnesota and industry can strengthen the state’s economy,” said Steven L. Crouch, dean of the University of Minnesota’s College of Science and Engineering. “With more than 100 invention disclosures in just the last four years, our Medical Devices Center has a proven track record of success that we hope to expand even further with additional space.”