Alertgy: Leading innovation in Diabetes management

The American Diabetes Association in its statistics said that around 9.4% of America suffered from diabetes in 2015. Diabetes was also declared to be the seventh leading cause of death in the United States in 2015. For a disease that is as widespread, diabetes should be one of the leading concerns for many healthcare companies. Alertgy is one such company that has taken up the cause of diabetes management.

Alertgy is known for its innovations that will help diabetics in the coming years to lead a worry-free life and reduce the negative impact of the disease to the absolute minimum. We talked to Alertgy’s CEO/Founder Marc Rippen to know more about the company.

Tell us, what motivated you to establish Alertgy?

The idea manifested itself when I saved my wife, who is a brittle type 2 diabetic, from going into a coma. I had resolved then to develop a non-invasive wearable device to alert diabetics and their loved ones in case blood sugar levels of the user drops dangerously low or rises very high. I wanted this device to provide continuous data on the current blood sugar levels so that a diabetic can make an informed choice to manage his/her condition.

Alertgy stands for- ALERT because to alert is our primary mission, the “G” stands for glucose and the “Y” stands for why because it is the needed.

How do you motivate your employees to enhance productivity?

I believe that leadership is critical for this. It starts with me. The leadership must set an example in demonstrating the exercise of the core leadership values.Moreover, it is important to realize that people are motivated in different ways. I try to understand what is important for every employee and structure their work so that they find their work fulfilling. For example, for those who wish to further develop their skills I give them challenging assignments or send them to take courses to teach them what they want to learn.

I also try to work on maintaining an esprit de corps which inspires enthusiasm, devotion, and strong regard for the honor of Alertgy. All these things work together to provide maximum productivity and more importantly gives the highest level of satisfaction for our employees.

How does excellence play a role in what your products offer?

Currently, Alertgy is doing its clinical trials on a non-invasive large wristband to continuously monitor blood glucose levels for in-hospital and clinical application. This will be our first generation product and will be mostly available in 2020. Also, Alertgy is working on further miniaturizing the technology for a second generation product for consumers. The second generation product should be available in 2021.

Through our work in miniaturization of the technology, we are demonstrating our continued commitment to excellence in providing the best quality product for the best value to our customers.

Can you tell us about your most memorable moment yet at Alertgy?

We built our first prototype in less than three months. We basically took a refrigerator-sized dielectric spectrometer and reduced it to a size of a cigarette pack. Then we integrated it with a sensor on a wristband. And quite surprisingly, it worked the very first time.

What distinguishes you from your competitors?

We are a small company, so we are very effective when it comes to coping with change. Weroutinely use methods that are out-of-the-box to solve complex problems without having to go through “paralysis by analysis” syndrome which is typical in large organizations. Other start-ups typically don’t have the level of knowledge we have which puts them at a disadvantage if they are competing with us.

What developments or changes do you think will have the biggest impact on your business and industry over the coming year?

We are happy that the FDA is becoming easier to work with. This is making it easier to get approvals for non-invasive technologies which will, in turn, impact the quality of life of the general population in a positive way.

How does it feel to have won this prestigious award?

Alertgy is truly honored by the recognition. We feel we will have to continuously demonstrate that we deserve it.

Alertgy Pioneer

Marc Rippen, CEO & Founder

Mr. Marc Rippen has extensive experience in the field of technology and engineering. He has founded or has been involved with many successful high technology start-ups in the past.

Mr. Rippen has been the Director of Engineering for Stanford Research Institute Space and Marine Science Group. Here, he managed several multi-million dollar contracts for the development of electromagnetic sensor-based devices for the DoD special operations applications. Under his leadership, these were developed from a concept to fielded products in less than a year on a routine basis. He has also managed advanced programs for DARPA many times. Currently, Mr. Rippen is an Adjunct Professor of Aeronautical Science at ERAU.

“We are committed to transforming how we monitor blood sugar to improve the lives of diabetics and, in the future, help people prevent diabetes.”