Written by Rachel Hogan
There was a point during the 2026 Innovate Medtech Masterclasses when we looked around the room and realised the day had become exactly what we hoped it would be.
Researchers were asking product-development questions they had not previously known to ask. Speakers stayed after their sessions to work through real problems with attendees. New conversations kept starting over coffee, lunch and, eventually, at the networking drinks.
On 22 May, 64 people from across the medtech ecosystem joined us in Perth for a full day focused on the practical work of moving medical technologies from promising ideas towards real products and companies. This was the second time we had run the Innovate Medtech Masterclasses, following our inaugural event in 2024. As an official satellite event of AusMedtech 2026, it gave people rare access to national and international experts who are not often all in the same room in Western Australia.
WE WANTED THE DAY TO BE USEFUL, NOT JUST INTERESTING
Medtech events can sometimes leave you inspired but still unsure what to do on Monday morning. We wanted the Masterclasses to be different.
Every session was designed to give attendees practical guidance from people who have done the work themselves: designed products for manufacture, navigated regulatory approvals, built quality systems, protected intellectual property, planned clinical trials, pursued reimbursement, raised capital and taken technologies into international markets.
We divided the day into two streams so attendees could focus on the challenges most relevant to them. The Technical Readiness stream covered product design, compliant usability, technical documentation, medical-device software standards, software and AI regulation and clinical trials. The Commercial Readiness stream explored R&D tax and grants, IP strategy, regulatory approvals, reimbursement, investor-ready data rooms and export-led development.
The two groups came back together to look at the strategic development of a medtech company - because technical and commercial readiness ultimately have to move forward together.
THE PEOPLE IN THE ROOM MADE IT WORK
The quality of the day came from the openness of our presenters. They did not simply deliver polished summaries of how medtech development is supposed to work. They shared practical lessons, common mistakes and the difficult questions companies need to confront early.
Our contributors included Steve Martinuzzo of Cobalt Design; Carla Zampaglione of Sento Solutions; Arjun Joshi, Jeanie Manning and Joanne Daniels of BSI Group; Aquib Fateh of IDE Group; Mo Jaimangal of Jupiter AI; Tim Bower of Avania; Stephen Carroll of Evolv3; Daniel Holt of FB Rice; Lee Walsh of Platypus MedTech Consulting; Roy Ramiscal of Pulse Economics Consulting; Trent Rachow of Fund WA; and Stuart Grant of Archetype MedTech. We were also joined by Teneille Murray from the Medical Technology Association of Australia to open the event and help connect the Masterclasses to the wider national medtech community.
THE 2026 MASTERCLASSES PROGRAM
The day brought together two concurrent streams, Technical Readiness and Commercial Readiness, with shared opening and closing sessions that connected the technical and commercial sides of building a medtech company.
Technical Readiness
- 8:45 am: Prototypes Don’t Ship - Designing MedTech Products for Manufacture
Steve Martinuzzo, Cobalt Design - 9:45 am: Lean, Mean and Compliant Usability
Carla Zampaglione, Sento Solutions - 11:00 am: Common Pitfalls in Technical Documentation
Arjun Joshi, Jeanie Manning and Joanne Daniels, BSI Group - 12:00 pm: The Hidden Cost of Ignoring Medical Device Software Standards
Aquib Fateh, IDE Group - 1:45 pm: The Regulation of Software and AI
Mo Jaimangal, Jupiter AI - 2:45 pm: The Inside World of Clinical Trials
Tim Bower, Avania
Commercial Readiness
Teneille Murray served as MC for the Commercial Readiness stream.
- 8:45 am: R&D Tax and Grants
Stephen Carroll, Evolv3 - 9:45 am: IP Strategy Considerations in Medtech
Daniel Holt, FB Rice - 11:00 am: Regulatory Approvals and QMS
Lee Walsh, Platypus MedTech Consulting - 12:00 pm: Reimbursement First: The Critical Path to Medtech Commercialisation Success
Roy Ramiscal, Pulse Economics Consulting - 1:45 pm: What Investors Are Looking for in Your Data Room
Trent Rachow, Fund WA - 2:45 pm: Export-First MedTech: When Product Development Stops Being Linear
Stuart Grant, Archetype MedTech
Shared sessions
- 8:30 am: Welcome and Introductions
Dr Michael Challenor and Teneille Murray, Innovate Medtech and MTAA - 4:00 pm: Strategic Development of Your Company
Dr Michael Challenor, Innovate Medtech - 5:00 pm: Networking at Bob’s Bar
- 6:15 pm: Optional networking dinner at Lalla Rookh
ATTENDED THE 2026 MASTERCLASSES? REQUEST THE PRESENTATIONS
Presentation materials are available exclusively to attendees of the 2026 Innovate Medtech Masterclasses.
Several presenters have generously made their slides available. If you attended the event and would like a copy from a particular session, email us and include the session or presenter’s name.
Request presentation materials →
HEARING SUCH POSITIVE FEEDBACK FROM ATTENDEES MADE ALL THE HARD WORK WORTH IT.
By the end of the day, the energy in the room told us the event had worked. Sessions ran into questions, breaks became working conversations and people continued talking well into the networking event and dinner.
The feedback afterwards reinforced what we had felt on the day. Attendees rated the event an average of 4.9 out of 5. Almost everyone said they would recommend it, with lots of comments on the valuable connections they had made.
Those results were wonderful to receive, but the comments meant even more. One attendee described finding “expert speakers you could actually talk to” and leaving with the confidence to move their project forward. That direct access to experienced people, and the honest conversations it enabled, was one of the clearest signs that the format worked.
That is exactly the safe intimate environment we wanted to create, experienced people sharing what they know honestly, and innovators feeling comfortable enough to ask the questions that matter to their own projects.
MORE THAN A PROGRAM OF PRESENTATIONS
Medtech is too multidisciplinary to build in isolation. Progress depends on bringing together science, engineering, clinical practice, regulation, intellectual property, manufacturing, investment and market access, usually before a founder feels completely ready.
The Masterclasses created a place where those perspectives could meet. For some attendees, the most valuable moment was a presentation. For others, it was a question asked over lunch, an introduction to a future collaborator or the realisation that somebody else had already encountered the problem keeping them awake at night.
We are proud of the program we delivered, but even more proud of the community that formed around it.
MEDTECH MASTERCLASSES PODCASTS COMING SOON
During the day, we also sat down with several of our presenters to record a series of Medtech Masterclasses podcasts. These conversations go beyond the sessions to explore more of the practical lessons, challenges and insights shaping medtech development. We will be releasing them shortly, so stay tuned.
THANK YOU FOR MAKING THE DAY A SUCCESS
Thank you to every speaker and participating company for sharing your expertise so generously. Thank you also to our event partners, the Medical Technology Association of Australia and MedTech Compass. We are especially grateful to our event sponsors, the Department of Energy and Economic Diversification and University of Western Australia, whose support helped make the 2026 Masterclasses possible.
Most importantly, thank you to everyone who attended, asked thoughtful questions, shared their own experiences and helped make the day feel collaborative from beginning to end.
HELP SHAPE THE 2027 INNOVATE MEDTECH MASTERCLASSES
We are now beginning to plan the 2027 Innovate Medtech Masterclasses, and we want the next event to be even more useful, practical and connected.
We would love to hear from people and organisations interested in being involved as:
If you want to attend, present, partner with us or sponsor the 2027 event, tell us how you would like to be involved.
