Like many good business ideas, this one started with a simple premise. Kids love stickers.
Based on that premise, two students from the Rohrer College of Business (RCB) and the Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering started a company, manufacturing sterile, medical-grade, rainbow colors and styles to dress up syringe barrels. provided stickers. IV children’s bags and other medical equipment.
Senior student Nicholas Nastasi majored in business administration, underage entrepreneurship and biomedical engineering major Joshua Perry founded 4U Medical Designs after starting his studies at Rowan University, and is already quite successful. of revenue streams.
The company took first place on October 27th at 39 and won $8,000 in prize money.th He participates in the annual CEO Global Conference and a pitch competition in Chicago, and in April won $2,500 in RCB’s New Venture Competition.
More importantly, the company is expected to generate $95,000 in sales by August of next year.
All stickers are original artwork, sealed to preserve sterility prior to application to medical devices, and are designed to ease the anxiety of young patients in hospitals and clinics.
Nastassi and Perry, childhood friends from Gloucester Township, said seven hospitals across the country, including Shriners for Children Medical Center in Pasadena, California, are already using the stickers. Wiseman Children of Marlton. Meads Countryside Hospital in Safety Harbor, Florida.
“We were lucky to have an idea that could impact so many patients,” Nastassi said following his victory in Chicago.
He said the idea for the company was inspired by his own childhood illness that required a short hospital stay. He said the equipment felt cold and uncomfortable.
4U Medical Designs creates stickers of a wide range of medical device categories for children, including sports, sea creatures, unicorns, happy faces, dinosaurs, dogs and cats, jungle animals, and more, all aimed at relieving anxiety doing.
Citing research from the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Perry said, “Fancy IV bags and syringes can reduce patient disgust by 83 percent, fear by 53 percent, and anxiety by 73 percent.” says.
However, he says, “One of our early concerns was fighting cross-contamination, which led us to design a film coating on each sticker to prevent that.”
Nastasi, CEO of 4U Medical Designs, and Perry, the company’s vice president of operations, said the long-standing practice of cooperation between the business and engineering departments had a direct impact on the company’s founding and early success. I was.
“Last year, I learned about the Chicago contest and it was among the top 100 ideas,” said Nastazi, who is also president of the Rowan chapter of the University Entrepreneurship Organization. “With all the progress we made last year, we knew we had a chance of winning.”
Perry said the company has applied for a utility patent on medical device stickers and is one of the few competitors in the market for now.
“We are kind of creating a space and building a market,” he said. It is done.”
Dr. Eric Liguori, who heads RCB’s School of Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SIE), says it’s always exciting to see students succeed in business, especially if they haven’t graduated yet.
“Interdisciplinary student venture teams produce better-developed and viable startup concepts,” said Liguori, noting that SIE’s central focus is to encourage entrepreneurship across campus. pointed out.
Dr. Mary Staehle, Interim Head of Biomedical Engineering, said the natural link between business and engineering and experiential learning within the curriculum provide a breeding ground for student ventures.
“Nick and Josh are shining examples of interdisciplinary innovation in healthcare,” said Stere. “It is easy to imagine their collaboration leading to numerous successful ventures, and together with 4U Medical Designs, they are off to a great start.”
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