How to Lead a MedTech Team When Everything Could Go Wrong

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Welcome to Beyond the Light, where we
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explore the stories, innovations, and
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the people driving the future of medical
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device lighting. I'm your host, Lindseay
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Jenovic, and today we have a very
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special guest. Matt Clemens is the
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engineering manager here at Lumatex, and
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he's been critical to guiding our teams
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through complex projects and customer
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partnerships. Today, we're diving into
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what it takes to foster innovation, to
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lead cross functional teams, and to
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deliver impactful solutions in the
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fast-paced world of medtech. Hi, Matt.
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Thanks for joining us.
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Hi. Uh, thanks for having me, Lindsay. I
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appreciate the the invite.
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Yeah, it's going to be great. Um, Matt,
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how long have you been with Lumitech
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now? Is it six years?
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Yeah, a little over six years. started
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off as a project engineer and started
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managing some of the projects but then
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about a couple years ago moved into a ma
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more management role so leading a group
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of engineers and and so been doing that
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ever since but still have some of the
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project aspect of it too. Yeah,
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absolutely. So, in that management role,
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I mean, what we're known for as a
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company is our collaborative and
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innovative engineering culture, which
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you're driving. How do you, as the
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engineering manager, foster that culture
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on your team, and why is it important
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for delivering successful projects and
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solutions to our customers?
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Yeah. Yeah. Uh, so really, I think it's
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it's all about uh creating a b a
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foundation for my group. And so I think
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some of the key pillars of that would
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just be first off creating a space
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that's uh physically logically safe. And
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what I mean by that is that you want to
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embrace a culture where people feel they
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can be trusted or they can be safe from
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any type of judgment of people of coming
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up with unique innovative ideas. And so
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once that's kind of been put into place
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really people can kind of feel like
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they've let loose a little bit and
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really drive more towards a focus. And
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we all we all know that, you know, no
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idea is a bad idea. And so bringing
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those best ideas to the table that is
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what they're doing the best of. I think
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secondly, it's just going to be
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challenging your status quo of there's
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so much that can be done with light. And
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at Lumatex, I really only feel like
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we're just kind of scratching the
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surface of some of that stuff. And so
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we're really looking to kind of uh find
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that next big disruption into the
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marketplace. And so really just question
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anything um even assumptions. And
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there's so much that can be done with
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light at this point and wavelengths and
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all the photobiomodulation stuff. We're
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just starting that stuff. And I think
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with the people we have at Lumatex, uh,
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just utilizing some of the strengths of
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each of of what everybody can come to
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offer at the table. We have optics, we
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have electronics, we have mechanical,
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it's all there and it's just we have
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this great diverse background here. And
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so really trying to tap in on people's
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experiences is just what's really going
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to help us out and get us to that good
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idea. And so really from a customer
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project standpoint, when we create that
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environment that's that creates
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successful innovation, uh we're really
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bringing great solutions to the
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forefront and and can really give our
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customers something that can really
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solve their problems and also improve
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overall well-being. Yeah,
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it sounds like you're working really
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hard to create that environment and to
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maintain it and to really um give your
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team what they need. That's wonderful.
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Yeah, it's it's very important and
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without it it's it's again building this
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level of trust and letting people feel
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that they can, you know, exist in in in
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this space that they just don't feel
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judged about either.
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Yeah, that's where the best innovation
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happens, I would imagine.
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Mhm.
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That's great. So, shifting a little bit
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to how you then take that collaborative
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environment and you transfer it into
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project management. I mean, managing
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complex projects is vital in our space
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and what we do. What project management
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strategies do you use to keep your
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engineering projects on track to keep
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your teams aligned? Can you share maybe
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an example from a project that
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highlights how effective project
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management led to a great outcome?
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Yeah, of course. So, when I think about
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and as I talked about with my
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background, I was a project engineer and
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so I still manage some of these
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projects. So when I go after projects, I
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think it's fun to do it, especially
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during like our phase zero or
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feasibility phase, just because we're
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learning a lot of new things and trying
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to figure out what what everything all
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is about, what I would say is that when
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you think about it and you're
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collaborating with your team, go after
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those big risk items first. And uh
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everybody knows about the fail fast
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mentality of you want to try to find
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those biggest issues that could
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potentially fail your project. And and
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if you can and you get to those points
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and you can either if you get to a point
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and you say that you've solved or
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mastered it or you find that there's
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still outstanding issues, well then you
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you've you found a way to either kill
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your project sooner rather than later
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which can help save money and resourcing
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in the long term. But then also it gives
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you a better step to say that you feel
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that your project has a a good bone on
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it and that you can you can continue to
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go up the path. I think that when you're
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in that that kind of mindset, quick
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feedback back loops and what I mean by
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that is that feedback is super vital,
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especially from customers or even end
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users and getting that feedback often
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and and in a in a a uniform manner can
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help validate your project is still
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going in the right direction or if it's
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not going the right direction, you know,
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making that right shift when you need
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to. I think that's sometimes large
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projects can be very daunting to people
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and so more manageable smaller steps you
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know appreciate small victories find
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that you have a prototype that works out
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well will then you know congratulate the
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team on that and get them feeling
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motivated inspired by everything and
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then as I was kind of talking about
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before with the the feedback loops any
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time uh you got to anticipate any time
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that things will happen and be ready to
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be adaptable be flexible to some of
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those changes and uh be ready to pivot
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if you too. And from my experience, one
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that's kind of more recent to me is that
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we had a full new product development
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opportunity that was kind of hitting a
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snag. We just didn't know exactly what
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we were doing or what the mission was
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and it felt like the wheels were
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spinning the mud a little bit. Um we
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were having some issues meeting our
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specifications from our customer. What
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we decided as a group was we just wanted
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to go back to the drawing board with
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some of our design. We had a few
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brainstorming sessions with uh you know
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again this diverse team of people. did
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some multiple iterations and and
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feedback loops with the team and really
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we've gotten much forward to much more
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further along with our project today.
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We've got a design that we feel more
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comfortable with and things are
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progressing very well with it and so
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we're happy with how how we were able to
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utilize that that team for it.
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Yeah, that's fascinating. I think it's
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so important the points that you made
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about knowing when it's time to pivot or
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when it's time to, you know, actually
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let a project go and realize that it's
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not the right fit. It sounds like a
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great way to learn some lessons.
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Yeah. And you just got to you got to
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know that not everything is going to go
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exactly to plan. Um and that's the
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flexible part behind it is that
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you got to be willing to you know kind
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of think about what those risks are
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going to be and anticipate when things
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are going to happen. Can you think of,
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you know, through all these projects and
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maybe the one you just mentioned, a key
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lesson that you've learned that now you
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take it and you apply it to new projects
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at Lumatex and, you know, how does that
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lesson ultimately benefit our customers
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and how does it improve the innovation
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process?
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Yeah, of course. Uh, so with that
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project for example, I think it was
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great to get the full team involved in
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on it. Again, these multiple different
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backgrounds of people, I find that just
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in general, silos can become a thing
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just because of the nature of your work.
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Everybody's doing everything, but taking
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the time to really think about
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brainstorming sessions, things of that
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nature, getting the help you need, and
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collaborating really puts you kind of in
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the right direction. And on top of that,
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it's always, you know, thinking, taking
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the time to plan, strategize what you're
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going to do. It's the whole slowly
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thinking but then quickly acting, you
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know, set yourself right for where you
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need to be and then once you've
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determined that's your plan of action,
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then sprint to your to your spot. It can
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be very tempting all the time just to
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jump right into something. And then to
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just tie back into the customer piece of
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it, always make sure your customer is is
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well informed, frequent check-ins. You
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got to make sure that things are staying
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within the scope of what you want.
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Believe me, customers don't want
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surprises, so keep this to a minimum.
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And by keeping them in the loop really
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helps reduce that that effort too. And
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really by, you know, some of these
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lessons that we've learned throughout
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the process, uh, they really help us
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work more efficiently, more effectively.
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Um, and it keeps our customers happy and
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and they know that they're part of the
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endgame for us, which has always just
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been improving life with light for us.
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That's great. Yeah, I work closely with
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you all the time. I know just how
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organized and, you know, how much you
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excel at project management. So, thanks
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for hitting on these really important
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key points today for us. Thanks for
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sharing your insights and giving us a
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behind-the-scenes look at engineering
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leadership at Lumatex.
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Yeah, no problem. Obviously, Lindsay
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worked with you a lot and always happy
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to help you out and and and really
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really work towards it, too.
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I appreciate it. Well, listen, thanks
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for joining us today. And to our
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listeners, if you found today's
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conversation valuable, be sure to
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subscribe to leave a review, share this
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episode with a colleague or friend in
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the medical device space. We've got a
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lot more conversations coming soon with
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the people that are shaping the future
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of medical lighting landscapes. So stay
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tuned and until next time, keep pushing
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boundaries and keep improving life with
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light.
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Thanks, Lizzie.
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Bye.
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[Music]