TAG'D: Beyond The Award

On this episode of TAG’D: Beyond the Award, Justin Starbird sits down with Dr. Helen Reeve Stoffer, Chief Operating Officer of Recor Medical's, to unpack the extraordinary 14-year journey behind the Paradise™ Ultrasound Renal Denervation System, winner of the 2026 TAG Award for Cardiovascular Therapeutic Innovation.

What began as a bold idea to treat hypertension with ultrasound technology became one of the most resilient comeback stories in modern MedTech. After a devastating industry-wide clinical trial failure nearly derailed renal denervation entirely, Recor refused to walk away. Instead, the team rebuilt the clinical playbook from the ground up, partnered with leading hypertension experts, and helped prove that device-based therapy could become a viable new option for millions of patients living with uncontrolled high blood pressure.

The conversation dives into the realities of bringing category-defining technology to market, the persistence required to survive in MedTech, and why hypertension remains one of the world’s most urgent healthcare challenges. With more than 100 million Americans affected by high blood pressure, ReCor’s mission extends far beyond innovation. It is about giving patients another path forward against one of healthcare’s most dangerous “silent killers.”

Released alongside World Hypertension Day on May 17, this episode is also a reminder of the importance of awareness, prevention, and expanding access to new treatment options for patients worldwide.

From startup uncertainty to commercial success, this is a story about science, resilience, leadership, and the long road to changing patient lives.

They did it again! 🎉 Codonics is officially a two-time TAG Award winner, and today we’re celebrating the incredible team behind the innovative Safe Waste System (SWS)! 

Join Mike Kohlberg, General Manager, and Cristy Berg, Vice President, OEM, Marketing, Communications, and Global Trade Shows, on the TAG’D Beyond the Award podcast as they walk us through how they cracked one of the toughest nuts in healthcare: controlled substance waste. 

Learn how the SWS brings safety, simplicity, and total accountability to the operating room, streamlining the entire medication workflow, from preparation to waste and reconciliation, in seconds. 

Get ready to be inspired by a company that proves the most practical innovations are often the most impactful!

TAG’D: Beyond the Award brings you Beyond the Booth live from the floor of MD&M South in partnership with Informa Markets.

Ever wonder how the biggest names in manufacturing ensure their quality control is powder-to-finish perfect? On this episode, host Justin Starbird is joined by Aimee Ozarchuk, Southeast Business Sales Manager for Zeiss Industrial Quality Solutions, to break down the massive scope of Zeiss’s inspection equipment, from nanometer-level microscopy to 100% in-line automotive part inspection.

This conversation goes beyond the booth as Aimee reveals the excitement around their brand-new Quality Excellence Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, a true hands-on customer center designed to solve complex applications in X-ray, CMM, and micro-abilities. 

Plus, get the inside scoop on Aimee's career journey from inside sales to leading the entire Southeast region, and how customer demands are driving their innovation roadmap toward AI, Industry 4.0, and merging critical data sets. 

Tune in to discover how Zeiss continues to redefine precision and partnership in the ever-evolving world of industrial manufacturing!

Ever wonder what it takes to build something that literally saves lives, one microscopic component at a time?

In this Beyond the Booth episode from MD&M South in Charlotte, brought to you in partnership with Informa Markets, we're stepping off the main stage and onto the shop floor (well, the trade show floor) with Mike Wang from Braxton Manufacturing. Braxton is the world's quiet expert in deep-draw technology, a process for forming metal in which the length exceeds the diameter, similar to a lipstick tube or bullet casing. They specialize in turning impossibly small pieces of metal into critical, life-saving components for MedTech (including dental and ophthalmic surgical parts), aerospace, and electronics. These high-precision, tight-tolerance parts are essential components within larger finished devices.

Mike walks us through their incredibly niche, high-stakes world, covering:

• The Power of Precision: How Braxton achieves tight-tolerance, nano-scale parts that are too complex to be made anywhere else, securing them as long-term partners for giants in regulated industries.

• Innovation on Demand: Why true innovation isn't just internal R&D, but a constant, collaborative problem-solving process driven by customer needs.

• The AI vs. Physical Reality Check: Mike's candid take on why AI is a great supplement but can never replace the hands-on expertise of a skilled engineering team in complex manufacturing.

• Beyond the Email: The essential role of trade shows (like MD&M South) in forging "customers for life" by building face-to-face trust in an impersonal B2B world.

If your business relies on high-quality manufacturing, or if you just love hearing about companies operating at the absolute cutting edge of their niche, this episode is a deep dive you won't want to miss.

TAG’D: Beyond the Award brings you Beyond the Booth live from the floor of MD&M South in partnership with Informa Markets.

This week, we pulled Matt Johnson from Photonics Industries right off the MD&M South floor to talk about something way bigger than lasers: trust. 

In the world of high-tech manufacturing, where do you find a competitive edge? Matt argues it’s not just in the machine's specs but in the people behind it. We dig into why American manufacturing still matters, the real meaning of 'innovation' beyond the buzzword, and how Matt’s philosophy of building personal relationships is, in fact, the ultimate sales strategy in a billion-dollar industry. 

This is a must-listen for anyone in MedTech, manufacturing, or sales who wants to cut through the noise and build something that lasts.

TAG'D: Beyond the Award brings you Beyond the Booth live from the floor of MD&M South in partnership with Informa Markets.

Forget the rigid, competitive scenes of Boston or San Francisco! Host Justin Starbird sits down with Craig Scharton of Connect Labs by Wexford right on the floor of MD&M South in Charlotte to talk about a health innovation ecosystem that feels totally fresh, like the Bay Area in the 1990s!

Craig dives into how Connect Labs, part of Charlotte's Pearl Innovation District, is becoming the most supportive place to launch a MedTech or life science startup in the country. Hear how they're giving early-stage companies everything they need, from shared lab space and equipment to "wraparound services" that connect them with IP attorneys, investors, and other vital resources to help them succeed in the 14-county region. 

Tune in and get inspired by the cooperative, 'Kind Health Innovation Charlotte' network that is seeing incredible pent-up demand and making co-investments to truly foster local economic growth.

TAG’D: Beyond the Award brings you Beyond the Booth live from the floor of MD&M South in partnership with Informa Markets.

Kicking off a Beyond the Booth series live from the MD&M South show floor in Charlotte, host Justin Starbird sits down with Rob Lievense, a Solutions Engineer from Minitab. 

If you thought Minitab was just a statistical software, think again! 

Rob dives into how the 54-year-old company is 

• channeling the energy of an entrepreneurial startup, 

• embracing the Six Sigma revolution, 

• and integrating AI to make complex data analysis a breeze (even for those of us who find statistics "kind of intimidating"). 

Rob also shares what his job is actually like, why being present at MD&M South is crucial for Minitab’s predictive analytics, and gives us a preview of their cutting-edge solutions coming later this year, like connecting directly to manufacturing equipment. 

Tune in to hear how this software giant is innovating to keep everything you need under one "integrated roof"!

What's the real difference between a brilliant concept and a product that changes healthcare? Two-time TAG Award Judge, MedTech design veteran, and founder Tor Alden is here to break it down on the TAG’D Beyond the Award podcast. 

He dives into 

• how he evaluates nominations, 

• why "breaking the egg" is the best thing a startup can do, 

• and what the current economic climate is doing to MedTech innovation. 

If you’re building, funding, or interested in the future of medical technology, this is a must-listen. Plus, get the inside scoop on his consulting firm, OllieWorks.

Ever wonder why your company keeps losing on awards even with great products!? 

Meet Susan Turkell, The Awards Guru, who says the problem isn't your product, it's your story. 

Her secret? "Story mining". She's an outside expert who finds the powerful, emotional moments your internal team is just too close to see.

In this episode, we dig into the real, raw psychology of awards. We'll cover:

• Why awards are actually a huge tool for hiring and team motivation.

• How to talk about big growth (like "doubling" revenue) without giving away your private financial numbers.

• The strategic advantage of hiring a nomination expert (she compares it to calling a plumber for a burst pipe!).

• Why rushing your entry for a deadline is the worst move.

If you're tired of seeing your nominations "tossed out" for not answering the question, this one's a must-listen! 

Time to stop filling out forms and start winning! Press play!

Join host Justin Starbird for an insightful conversation with returning TAG Award judge, MaryBeth Privitera! Fresh off her retirement from the University of Cincinnati, MaryBeth is kicking off a "design revival" in MedTech.

Find out what truly separates a scientifically interesting idea from an impactful solution in Life Sciences, and why the "age-old excuse" about regulatory slowdowns is a business problem, not an FDA one. 

MaryBeth shares her unique perspective as Principal of Design and Human Factors for SentiAR on the trends she's tracking in digital health and diagnostics, and reveals the one critical weakness she sees in most award submissions. 

Plus, she gives an exciting update on the next edition of her must-read book, Applied Human Factors in Design!

If you're a MedTech founder, engineer, or just curious about what's next in medical device innovation, this episode is packed with hard-earned wisdom on product design, team collaboration, and the power of third-party recognition.