Focused on embedded cybersecurity and secure product development, the engineering firm plans to expand the program to universities around the country
HOUSTON, TX and BOULDER, CO – July 6, 2022 – Velentium, a Houston-based professional engineering firm that specializes in the design and manufacturing of therapeutic and diagnostic active medical devices, today announced a successful completion of its initial embedded cybersecurity and secure product development course in partnership with the University of Colorado Boulder. The engagement also included a capstone project with a focus on machine learning and artificial intelligence in relation to threat modeling.
"Cybersecurity poses the greatest threat to medical technology and the healthcare industry as a whole, both presently and in the future,” said Dan Purvis, Velentium co-founder and CEO. “The most effective way to raise awareness of this issue and combat the threat is to educate the next generation of engineers at the university level. Velentium was eager to partner with an outstanding university like CU Boulder when the opportunity arose and was honored to work with some tremendous students throughout the course and project. Programs like this are essential to the future of our industry.”
Led by Garrett Schumacher, Cybersecurity Lead at Velentium and Adjunct Professor, the program gave students both classroom and hands-on experience in the medical device security realm. Through the lens of embedded cybersecurity and secure product development, the team examined how machine learning and AI could be applied to automate threat modeling techniques. While the new model remains in development, the project concluded that both can successfully be applied to this crucial area of cybersecurity combat.
“Although in the early stages, our team considers the research resulting from our course and capstone project to be a considerable win and a step forward for the industry that could lead to procedural innovations in the future,” said Schumacher. “Velentium is committed to educating the next generation of aspiring engineers and plans to expand this initiative to additional universities around the country, ultimately creating a certification course. It was a joy to work with some brilliant-minded students, and we were proud to hire two interns out of the CU Boulder program, providing opportunities for young engineers to enter the industry and experience career advancement.”
Rushikesh Dodamani and Renu Mani joined Velentium as interns after completing the course this semester and provided their thoughts on the experience at CU Boulder.
“Beyond theoretical concepts, this course allowed us to experience a hands-on approach for network devices and understand hardware hacking,” said Dodamani. “It also helped students understand different steps of the product development lifecycle and the issues present in each step, gaining insight in how to mitigate those problems. The most significant insight I learned during the course was never to give up while testing a device for vulnerabilities. Velentium helped us understand that there are multitudes of techniques to utilize, and in the process, learn something new and have fun while you’re at it.”
“I wanted to join Velentium as it is one of those unique companies that does everything in the product lifecycle from concept to market,” said Mani. “I strive to understand and implement what I had learned in the classroom in the real world. Another major factor would be the enthusiasm with which Garrett and other Velentium team members showed during instruction, which made us want to work with them as colleagues, and their wealth of knowledge which could help me start my career in cybersecurity.”
In addition to this university program, Velentium designed and launched a formal training program last year – Mastering Embedded Cybersecurity – on how to implement cybersecurity best practices and processes during design, development, production, premarket, and postmarket activities. The level one training and certification series followed the publish of the bestselling textbook Medical Device Cybersecurity for Engineers and Manufacturers, co-authored by Christopher Gates, Velentium’s Director of Product Security.
To learn more about the CU Boulder course, Velentium's training programs, or keep up with the company’s latest news and insights, visit Velentium.com or email nextstep@velentium.com.
About Velentium
Headquartered in Houston, Texas with operations globally, Velentium is a professional engineering firm that specializes in the design and manufacturing of therapeutic and diagnostic active medical devices for companies of every size and stage, from Fortune 100s to startups. Velentium offers world-class expertise in software, usability, cybersecurity, mobile and cloud, electrical and mechanical development, regulatory, and systems engineering for medical devices. Velentium transforms IP into safe and secure products that will support healthcare professionals, patients, and communities, and ultimately, change lives for a better world. Velentium is ISO-13485 certified and an FDA-registered Manufacturer of Record. For more information, visit http://www.velentium.com.
Interested in partnering with Velentium to develop your project? Please contact us at NextStep@Velentium.com and help us fulfil our passion for changing lives for a better world.