By Neil Nachbar
The president of Delsys, a global leader of devices for muscle sensing and movement monitoring, will be at the University of Rhode Island on Oct. 9 to share his thoughts on what it takes to turn a small business into a highly competitive company.
Having been with the company since its humble beginnings, Gianluca De Luca has played a significant role in Delsys’ success as a research engineer, manager of product development, vice president and now as president.
De Luca’s presentation, which is part of the Anthony J. Risica Lecture Series on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, will be held in the Hope Room of the Robert J. Higgins Welcome Center from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
The title of De Luca’s lecture will be, “From the Ground Up: Lessons Learned at an Unlikely Medical Device Startup.” A question and answer session and refreshments will follow.
From Startup to Industry Leader
Initially occupying a small rented room above the Boston University bookstore, Delsys is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The company owns and operates a 23,000 square foot medical research and manufacturing facility in Natick, Mass. and has experienced a growth rate of 10 to 25 percent each year.
In 2017, Delsys expanded its presence to Europe by opening an office in Manchester, England. This year, the company has established partnerships with distributors in China and Hong Kong, where Delsys has presented its products at conferences and conventions for years.
Delsys was started by De Luca’s father’s cousin, Carlo J. De Luca, who was a professor emeritus of biomedical engineering at Boston University, the dean of BU’s College of Engineering from 1986 to 1989 and the director of the university’s Neuromuscular Research Center.
“He recruited me, not only for my interest and skills in biomedical engineering, but because he could trust me with the vulnerabilities of a startup,” De Luca recalled. “Like myself, he received his college education in Canada, but ultimately settled in the Boston area because of the cutting-edge biomedical research offered by the great academic institutions of New England.”
The Delsys-URI Relationship
Delsys has hired three URI graduates and has continually sponsored capstone design projects worked on by seniors in the College of Engineering. The company has also sponsored the HealthHacks RI competition, which is a contest hosted by URI’s College of Engineering that challenges students from all disciplines to solve practical problems using human-centered design.
De Luca encourages URI students to seek out opportunities to observe and experience the day-to-day operations of a company.
“We’ve become great proponents of internships and co-op programs at Delsys,” De Luca stated. “Once we make sure a student is a good fit, we put the student in the middle of the action and give them practical, challenging and necessary tasks that must be completed.
“URI students fit into our company culture. We are very eager to nurture our relationship with URI as we continue to grow as a company.”
From Engineer to Entrepreneur
As a successful engineer and entrepreneur, De Luca has learned some valuable lessons to pass along to students.
“Every business has its own unique fingerprint, so one has to be a quick study on people and develop an ability to assess fluid situations,” De Luca advised. “These are skills that can be learned and require practice. Engineers excel at analytical thinking and cross-spectrum problem solving, which can accelerate the business learning cycle.”
Another vital skill for an engineer entering a business environment, according to De Luca, is time management.
“Entrepreneurs have to be proficient at handling a high volume of activity and information with minimal error,” De Luca stated. “Students should be focusing on time management as a key skill. Time is the single most valuable resource an entrepreneur has and there is no room for squandering it.”
To manage time, De Luca stresses the importance of knowing how to weigh and assess information.
“Successful entrepreneurs have the ability to see a problem from a zoomed-out perspective and also from a detailed, zoomed-in point of view,” De Luca said. “Many people are comfortable at only managing details or only managing the big picture, but entrepreneurs must do both.”
About the Anthony J. Risica Lecture Series on Innovation and Entrepreneurship
The Risica Lecture Series was established in 2003, thanks to a generous gift from Anthony Risica, a URI engineering alumnus. The series invites prominent leaders in engineering and business to share their knowledge with the campus community and public. Last month’s lecture was delivered by Aidan Petrie, founder of Ximedica, a $34M company.