John Schwartz, associate professor, Fisheries and Wildlife, AI Medical Devices Inc.Chairman of the Board and Director of Research and Development.

AI Medical Device Inc.'s Airway RIFL intubation device, designed by MSU Fisheries and Wildlife Department associate professor John Schwartz

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EAST LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan State University professor-turned-medical device entrepreneur today was named innovator of the year by MichBio, Michigan’s biotechnology industry association.

John Schwartz, an associate professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, was honored by MichBio at its 2008 Expo and Conference in Novi. He co-founded AI Medical Devices Inc. in Williamston 2-1/2 years ago.

Working with his brother Richard, an MSU graduate and Medical College of Georgia emergency room physician, Schwartz developed the Airway RIFL (Rigid Intubating Fiberoptic Laryngoscope). The Airway RIFL facilitates placement of a flexible plastic tube into the trachea of patients to protect the airway and allow mechanical ventilation. The procedure, although common, is difficult, often traumatic and improperly done can cause grave damage. It is especially difficult to perform on those suffering cervical spine injuries.

Schwartz’s innovation was an articulated insertion tube to better navigate the trachea, combined with fiber optics for remote vision. The second generation of the device is nearing commercial production, he said, and he is meeting with prospective manufacturers this week seeking to have the injection-molded devices made in Michigan.

The Airway RIFL was unrelated to his work at MSU, but Schwartz said AI (Airway Innovations) Medical Devices received critical assistance in its early stages in the form of market research and other guidance from Michigan State.

“They really helped with a whole variety of things to move toward commercialization of the product,” he said. “We had a lot of people wanting us to go to other places, but we actually developed our corporation in Michigan because of the things MSU did to assist us with our business plan.”

The company last month landed a $400,000 loan from the Michigan 21st Century Jobs Fund, matched to $800,000 in private investment.

Schwartz, who retires in December after 25 years with MSU, most recently was program leader for the Michigan Sea Grant Extension. As an extension educator, he taught hundreds of emergency medical personnel how to handle cold water near-drowning. He also developed a course in outdoor preparedness for natural resource professionals and led MSU students on study abroad courses in the Himalayas, Belize, Anguilla, the Bahamas and Antarctica.

His experience in medicine goes back to his days as an engineering undergraduate at the University of Michigan, when he worked drawing blood from patients at a veterans’ hospital.

The MichBio award honors early stage innovators in the state bioscience community who have “played a significant role in developing a breakthrough technology, process, therapeutic or product with commercial potential,” according to the association.

Its annual expo, it said, attracts more than 450 participants and 60 exhibitors from bioscience companies, research institutions and universities, plus other industry players.

For more information, go to AI Medical Devices Inc.: www.aimedicaldevices.com or

MichBio at www.michbio.org.

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Michigan State University has been advancing knowledge and transforming lives through innovative teaching, research and outreach for more than 150 years. MSU is known internationally as a major public university with global reach and extraordinary impact. Its 17 degree-granting colleges attract scholars worldwide who are interested in combining education with practical problem solving.