HEALTH & WELLBEING IN-DEPTH MDMC
Scotland's hub for medical device innovation
The Medical Device Manufacturing Centre (MDMC) is helping to strengthen Scotland’s position as a global hub for MedTech innovation by bringing together universities, industry and healthcare partners to accelerate the development of new medical technologies. Established in 2020 and headquartered at Heriot-Watt University, the MDMC is a collaboration between Heriot-Watt, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Glasgow, the University of Dundee and Robert Gordon University, alongside Scotland’s MedTech sector and regulatory and business support organisations.
The centre was created to address a key challenge facing medical device innovation: how to move promising technologies from research into commercially viable healthcare solutions more efficiently. By combining expertise across manufacturing engineering, biomaterials, regulatory affairs, product validation, sustainability and clinical testing, the MDMC provides companies with access to an end-to-end innovation pathway that supports the development of medical technologies from concept to clinical application.
A distinctive feature of the MDMC is its distributed national model, which connects companies across Scotland with specialist facilities and academic expertise located within the five partner universities. This collaborative structure allows SMEs and early-stage MedTech companies to access advanced manufacturing equipment, testing capabilities and regulatory guidance that would otherwise be difficult or costly to obtain independently. More than 95% of Scotland’s medical device companies are located within a 30-mile radius of an MDMC university partner, helping to ensure regional accessibility and broad industry engagement. This approach aligns closely with Scotland’s wider ambitions to support innovation-led economic growth across all regions while strengthening collaboration between academia, industry and healthcare systems.
The MDMC has worked with more than 178 medical device manufacturing companies across Scotland.
This innovative pressure sensor can accurately measure whether a compression garment is exerting the correct pressure and adjust it accordingly.
The centre provides access to more than £10 million of advanced manufacturing infrastructure and expertise from over 155 academic specialists
More than
of Scotland’s medical device companies are located within a 30-mile radius of an MDMC university partner
The MDMC brings a significant breadth of expertise together through its university partners, contributing specialist knowledge and facilities that support different aspects of medical device innovation. These capabilities include manufacturing engineering, biomaterials research, metal micromachining, product validation, sensor design, life-cycle analysis, sustainability assessment, regulatory affairs and clinical modelling. By integrating these strengths into a coordinated national centre, the MDMC provides companies with a single access point to a wide-ranging innovation ecosystem capable of supporting technologies from early-stage development through to clinical translation.
Since its launch, the MDMC has worked with more than 178 medical device manufacturing companies across Scotland, supporting over 200 innovation and development activities. Companies collaborating with the centre have benefited from specialist technical advice, manufacturing support, regulatory training and guidance on sustainable healthcare technologies. Through these partnerships, the MDMC has helped companies increase investment, strengthen international sales and accelerate routes to market for new products and technologies.
The centre also provides access to more than £10 million of advanced manufacturing infrastructure and expertise from over 155 academic specialists. This enables companies to undertake activities including prototyping, materials testing, life-cycle analysis, cadaveric modelling, sensor development and product validation within a coordinated innovation ecosystem. The collaborative approach reduces duplication of resources, lowers barriers to innovation such as the requirement of substantial independent investment, helping to reduce costs and barriers to innovation and supports faster development timelines for Scottish MedTech businesses.
The MDMC’s impact extends beyond product development to supporting wider economic growth, investment and resilience across Scotland’s MedTech sector. Collaborative projects have led to new research partnerships, industry-funded innovation programmes and stronger engagement between academia, healthcare providers and industry. Companies working with the centre have collectively secured significant additional investment, expanded international sales opportunities and strengthened their readiness for commercial markets through improved product development and regulatory preparation.
Regulatory support delivered through workshops, webinars and one-to-one consultations has also helped companies navigate increasingly complex international requirements and prepare products for global adoption. Alongside commercial growth, the MDMC has supported job creation within Scotland’s MedTech industry and enabled businesses to establish long-term partnerships with universities, healthcare organisations and industrial collaborators, creating wider opportunities for future innovation and knowledge exchange.
This integrated model of collaboration has positioned the MDMC as a unique national resource for Scotland’s MedTech sector. By aligning academic expertise with industry and healthcare priorities, the centre is helping innovative technologies progress more rapidly towards clinical use while supporting the growth of a sustainable and internationally competitive medical device industry in Scotland.
MDMC is currently funded by Scottish Enterprise. From 2020 - June 2023, this project was part-funded by European Regional Development Fund and part-funded by the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Deal.
