Innovation has become a bit of a catchphrase in recent years, used—sometimes overused, perhaps—by politicians, the media, business leaders and the like. The Cambridge Dictionary defines innovation as “a new idea or method, or the use of new ideas and methods.” For Granville Biomedical co-founder and CEO Christine Goudie the word has an even simpler meaning.

“Innovation is such a buzzword now, but innovation is just a fancy way of saying creativity. And creativity sounds really low budget. It sounds like people are painting things and sketching things with a pencil,” she said. “But the root of innovation is creativity and that has been in my DNA from the time I was born. … that has been the core piece of my life that’s always continued with me no matter what I do. It’s just about creativity.”

Goudie is Atlantic Business Magazine’s Stewart McKelvey Innovator of the Year for 2023, so her words should carry a bit of weight when she talks about creativity and innovation. They are two things that have helped guide her professional trajectory from her design studies to her current role at the head of Granville Biomedical. Granville specializes in the design of anatomical teaching tools and innovative medical devices to help improve clinical training and patient care.

The path to Granville began during her initial design studies at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University (NSCAD U) and an early interest in health tech. “I used to buy anatomy books when I was in my undergrad, for no good reason. I was just fascinated with all the different titles, from soft tissues and whatnot. I used to try to find ways to create projects or products that involved the human body,” she said.

Then she met a professor who specialized in design for an aging population, designing products that would make their lives easier. It was an epiphany for Goudie.

“I realized ‘Oh, there’s a name on this.’ … I didn’t know that was even a field I could approach,” she said. “He kind of took me under his wing and (fueled) that desire to learn more and find solutions for some of these really complex problems that remain to be solved. I found that fascinating—to think about how someone’s basic needs are not being met in life and we’re just moving past it while we develop smartphones and smart technologies but we’re ignoring basic needs that people have as human beings to get through the world. That’s where it all started.”

While a student at NSCAD, Goudie researched and developed Adapt, an award-winning and innovative wheelchair seating system that addressed the risk of pressure wounds for people with limited mobility. She continued in this direction during her Master of Design studies at Carleton University where a chance meeting gave her a further nudge.

 

 

 

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