Jordan Van Flute

Talk abstract:
It started with three guys, a garage and a heatgun. Seven years later our products are being used in 70
countries and in almost all major healthcare systems worldwide.

In January 2012 we set about to try and democratise access to otherwise inaccessible surgical simulation equipment.

Working to develop prototypes with a limited set of tools and budget pushed us to solve problems in an unconventional manor.

In the beginning that meant bending sheet plastic over the side of a fridge to produce our first product casings.

Today it’s using SLS 3D printing for mass production, motivated by the need to avoid expensive tooling costs found in injection moulding. This method of thinking is still deeply rooted into our engineering and design teams to this day.

Whilst it’s much harder to build a ‘successful’ business in the modern world, there’s never been a better time to start a product-based business with the access to additive manufacturing technologies that we have today.

Bio:
My journey began during my undergraduate research into the prediction of surgical ability.

It was through this that I identified the lack of access to surgical training equipment, a problem that I’d later tackle with two very close friends.

Having always been a natural engineer with love for tearing things apart to understand how they worked, it seemed only fitting that I become the companies first engineer and now CTO.

I’d describe myself as a multi-discipline engineer with experience in most areas of product engineering and software development.

There’s nothing more fun for me than taking a sketch on a piece of paper all the way through to a physical product that I can put in my hands and that someone can find great use in.

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