J. Erik Giphart, PhD, PMP

President

“Helping patients in particular as well as healthcare in general, technology, and innovation are my passions. With health we can all live up to our human potential, whatever that may be for you. Technology and innovation can help solve so many problems. I love the challenge of taking an idea and transforming it into reality with a successful launch into the market place. There is still so much to improve in healthcare! Let me help you make your idea or project come to fruition.”

Biography

Erik Giphart is an experienced CTO and R&D manager with 15+ years of progressive experience in research, medical device design and development, as well as program and business management. He has a proven ability to provide vision, as well as strategic and technical leadership for innovation and research activities. Erik has a thorough understanding of the process to take products from concept to market. He is consistently able to complete challenging multidisciplinary projects as well as develop and launch innovative products and programs by combining excellent leadership and communication skills with demonstrated creativity, problem solving and team-building abilities.

Erik has a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands, specializing in Information Theory (1994), and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University (2001). He spent most of his academic career studying Biomechanics, building advanced laboratories and research devices such as an immersive Virtual Reality Lab, and a BioMotion Lab which included a 1000 fr/s stereo x-ray imaging system, publishing 30 peer reviewed articles in both well-known engineering and clinical journals along the way. At the Steadman Philippon Research Institute in Vail, CO, Erik was immersed in cutting-edge orthopedic research (pun intended!) and the clinical care of athletes working directly with world-renowned orthopedic KOLs in sports medicine. It was there that he realized and saw first-hand that novel and innovative new products can have a more direct and significant impact on clinical care, and that he much more enjoyed creating innovative devices than doing the research using them.

Erik switched to the medical device industry in 2012, when he joined Halifax Biomedical Inc (HBI) in Mabou, Nova Scotia, Canada, which is a start-up company commercializing stereo x-ray technology. There he was Director of Engineering initially, and became CTO shortly thereafter responsible for directing two major programs involving the development of surgical instrumentation, static and dynamic stereo x-ray equipment, advanced 3D image analysis software, a tele-radiology framework for image analysis, and a mobile imaging trailer. In addition to device development, Erik was also responsible for regulatory and clinical affairs. In his role, he was deeply involved with business strategy, business development, site management, as well as development of strategic and clinical collaborations. Erik was instrumental in forging a collaboration between HBI and GE Healthcare which resulted in an FDA-cleared device for HBI compatible with GE’s flagship imaging suite. For about 8 months, Erik was interim President of HBI to allow the founder and CEO to focus on fundraising efforts.

Upon return to Colorado, Erik joined Evergreen Research Inc, a contract engineering firm as a Program Manager, managing multiple concurrent medical device development projects. After briefly serving as both Program Manager and Engineering Manager, he was asked to serve as Director of Engineering responsible
for personnel management and resource allocation, promote business growth and support sales activities, and ensuring compliance with regulatory and QMS standards.

Erik is now focused on developing Front Range R&D to help start-up and early-stage companies get their ideas to market quickly and efficiently, and to help corporations and companies with their project management needs.