Nova Biomedical awarded for pioneering software

Written on the 6 September 2017 by Gold Coast PR Company Consulting Hall

Nova Biomedical, a supplier of specialist testing and maintenance services for the health industry, has been recognised for its pioneering software development.

The Yatala-headquartered biomedical engineering company, which is headed up by Ken Welch and his sons Sean and Joe, was set up in 2012 to maintain medical equipment in hospitals, surgeries and emergency services vehicles across the nation and internationally.

Joe Welch said Nova Biomedical was a young company that was always looking for new ways of improving its service and that led it to develop its own software.

"One of our team members who is a software engineer developed a software program to speed up the entire testing process for all types of medical equipment,'' he said.

"There is a hole in the market for the software because we operate in a very niche market. It forced us to make our own software.

"The program reduces a job that would normally take three quarters of a day down to two hours and also reduces the chance of human error.

"There is also the potential for the software to be further developed so the medical equipment could be tested remotely and that is something we are now working on."

To develop the software so far, the company acquired the source codes for testing equipment and then wrote about 10,000 lines of software code.

"We now use the software when we are testing all kind of medical equipment throughout the world including patient monitors, ventilators, anaesthetic machines, blood pressure machines, ECG machines, defibrillators and ultrasound machines.

"As you can imagine, there is no room for error when you are testing critical medical equipment such as these and the software improves our efficiency and significantly reduces any chance of human error."

Mr Welch said the company had now appointed another software developer and was looking to further develop the software.

"As well as servicing the needs of our existing customers, the development of the software will potentially allow us to sell the software to other testing agencies throughout the world,'' he said.

"This could potentially revolutionise the global industry."

Nova Biomedical's work so far was recognised at Bond University this week when the company received the Mayor's Innovation GC Award at the Gold Coast Business Excellence Awards for August.

Mr Welch said he was honoured the company had won the award and he was excited for the future of the business.

The winners in the other categoriesin the Gold Coast Business Excellence Awards were:

• Australian Restoration and Construction, Emerging Business
• Visual Diversity Homes, Family Business
• Inspirations Paint Nerang and Oxenford, Retail, Wholesale and Distribution
• Condev Construction, Construction and Trades
• Digga Australia, Manufacturing
• Wahlstrom Financial Services, Professions and Business Services
• Feros Care, Health and Wellbeing
• Opmantek, IT and Knowledge Management, and
• The Scenic Day Tour Group,  Tourism, Hospitality and Events

The awards' major sponsors are Westpac, Harvey Norman Commercial Queensland, Optus Business Centre Gold Coast, City of Gold Coast; Regional Development Australia Gold Coast; Flight Centre Business Travel; Choice Homes; OntheNet; Griffith University; Gold Coast Airport; Pindara Private Hospital and The Southport Private Hospital.

The awards' media sponsors include the Gold Coast Bulletin, NBN Television, 92.5 Gold FM and 90.9 Sea FM.

The GCBEA's major supporters are KPMG, McCann, Document Solutions Australia, Bloomtools, Consulting Hall, The Star Gold Coast, Regina King Photography, Bruce Lynton Jaguar Land Rover and Bond University.