Biloine W. Young • Thu, July 24th, 2014
Garages and basements are iconic and sacred spaces in the history of technology. Ever since the September day in 1998 when the founders of Google set up workspace in Susan Wojcicki’s garage on Santa Margarita Avenue in Menlo Park, young men have pursued their disruptive technology dreams in just such spaces.
Three such young men are presently living and working in a basement and garage they have converted into a machine shop and laboratory, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Their goal is to create a new tool for spine surgery, a hand-held device that, containing both X-ray capabilities and a drill, would allow a surgeon to more quickly and more accurately than at present, insert pedicle screws into vertebra. Screw systems for the stabilization of spines have, in recent years, become common in spine surgery.
The concept first occurred to David Chang, M.D., a neurosurgeon. When Chang read an article in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press about MIT graduate and inventor Nicholas Powley in about 2006, he looked him up. The two teamed up with a third—Simon Mehalek—whom they describe as being “from another planet” to create Chang’s idea.
With a handful of patents securing their intellectual property the three began the process of creating a prototype of their idea. But, before they could begin, Powley had to create the setting where invention could take place. As he said, “We had the ideas but not until we had the environment built up could we make progress. Our environment consists of living space where we make people comfortable. We work long hours and have the equipment required to manufacture this. Everything is built here. We have a complete machine shop in the garage and the ability to make these electromagnetic components. We create the software to manage the data that is produced.”
