Success Story: CEG Supports Training Bridge’s Strategy for Manufacturing Medical Simulation Units Made with Plant-Based Thermoplastics
Overview
Training Bridge, a Hudson, New York-based startup, is looking to replace the high-cost, petroleum-based silicones that are used to make medical simulation models for the emergency care training industry with a lower-cost, plant-based alternative. After working in the medical simulation industry for a decade, Peter Marotta founded Training Bridge in 2023. He is also a former registered nurse and U.S. Navy nuclear engineering officer.
The Situation
Medical simulation models, ranging from small flesh-like wound cells to intravenous Practice Arms and full-body frames, are typically made with silicon-based thermoplastics, or thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs). With silicon-based TPEs, manufacturing is often done at large scales via injection molding. But that poses challenges for production of medical simulation units, which are made at lower volumes. On top of needing to overcome the high costs posed by this hurdle for market entry, Training Bridge wants to address other issues related to silicon-based TPEs, which are neither recyclable nor easy to repair. In contrast, plant-based TPEs offer advantages in molding, rapid customization, repairability, and recyclability.
The Solution
To support the startup’s use of plant-based TPEs in a medical simulation project, the Center for Economic Growth (CEG) helped Training Bridge receive a $20,000 Advanced Manufacturing Institute (AMI) Advanced Materials Technical Assistance Program grant. Under the grant, which FuzeHub awarded, CEG partnered with AMGIO Consulting to provide Training Bridge with a technical solution for dispensing TPE safely and cost effectively. The consultant also sought to enable Training Bridge to better quote their end customer with accurate lead time and cost projections.
AMGIO Consulting in Ballston Lake, New York provides technical support relating to project management, planning, and systems engineering for the launch of manufacturing programs. The firm’s CEO is Alexander Giordano, a mechanical engineer and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumnus who held several key positions at Precision Valve & Automation relating to the design, production, and selling of industrial dispensing equipment.
From September 2024 to last March, AMGIO Consulting worked with Training Bridge. The consultant provided Training Bridge with concept sketches of the equipment on production floor, including 2D layout drawings with facility requirements listed and 3D renderings of the equipment configured for use. AMGIO also delivered a supplier selection matrix that covered topics such as technical approach; range of capabilities for different material durometers; cost; lead time; footprint and facility requirements; pros and cons; and the consultant’s recommendations.
Through the technical support that AMGO Consulting provided, Marotta said, “There’s a clear path to deploy a couple of solutions.” His concerns about adopting the plant-based TPEs were addressed, and he realized that their implementation in medical simulation models may be simpler than initially expected. Marotta is working with Quinnipiac University researchers to study the biomechanics for medical simulation units, and he is considering relocating the startup to nearby Albany, New York as it scales up production.
Testimonial
“What CEG did with the grant allowed us to take that first step in how to refine our strategy. The MEP grant helped us learn how to handle the material in a safe way and maximize economic impacts.”
-Peter Marotta, Founder, Training Bridge
