Tom Kelly, Executive Director of Automation Alley, Pavan Muzumdar, Chief Operating Officer of Automation Alley and CEO of Project DIAMOnD, and Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter tour Air and Liquid Systems in Rochester Hills.

This initiative is now taking another leap forward as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will expand the program, first regionally in Wayne, and Macomb counties, and then statewide as part of her “Infrastructure for Innovation” initiative.

One success is the ArcAngel by WarriorNP, a Bloomfield Hills-based company dedicated to innovations in neonatal and pediatric care. WarriorNP collaborated with Adapt Technology in Auburn Hills, a Project DIAMOnD company, to create the ArcAngel, an endotracheal feeding tube holder for premature infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs).

The ArcAngel’s innovative design allows for easy, one-handed adjustment of tubes by NICU nurses, eliminating the need for adhesive tape on a newborn’s delicate skin,” said Jessica Harnish, founder of WarriorNP, “Over my 20-plus years of working in the NICU as both a registered nurse and neonatal nurse practitioner, I’ve observed a lack of innovation when it comes to the very life-saving devices used on our most vulnerable patients. Standardizing tube securement (with ArcAngel) sets up clinicians for success by streamlining airway management, reducing stress for both clinicians and patients.”

Brian Smith, director of engineering at Adapt Technology, said, “3D printers created a ton of solutions for us. There’s this big issue in the field where in the neonatal unit, they take all those hoses, they tape them to their face. An infant that age only has a couple layers of skin. I’ve never seen a product launch like this one has launched.”

By providing critical resources to small manufacturers, the initiative not only boosts economic growth but also enables the creation of products that address significant medical challenges.