Lisa Nzau completed her East Africa Biodesign externship at Impulse Biomedical, a Cape Town medtech company focused on designing and manufacturing innovative medical devices for global markets. The placement gave her the full journey of translating a medical device from concept to manufacturing and market access.

Working alongside the team, Lisa explored the expansion of EasySqueezy, the company’s flagship product, into a new regional market, contributing to regulatory strategy, market entry planning, and stakeholder engagement. She helped map the market’s regulatory pathway, identified potential distributors and regulatory representatives, and facilitated introductions to key opinion leaders and industry partners, strengthening the company’s understanding of the local ecosystem.

Beyond market access, the externship offered an inside look at medical device manufacturing. Touring the production facility and engaging with engineers, quality teams, and manufacturing specialists revealed the countless design iterations, production decisions, and quality management processes required to transform an idea into a reliable medical product. One of her most valuable lessons: successful manufacturing is built through continuous iteration rather than a single final design.

A defining moment came from visiting Sinapi Biomedical, where resourceful manufacturing demonstrated that impactful medical device production does not always require large, sophisticated facilities. Seeing high-quality products being developed in modest spaces reinforced the idea that Africa already possesses many of the building blocks needed for local manufacturing, and that innovation often begins by making the most of existing resources.

While in Cape Town, Lisa also took up surfing lessons, played tourist, and engaged with the medtech community through the University of Cape Town’s Biomedical Engineering Research Centre (BMERC). She returns with expanded professional networks, fresh approaches to product development, and deeper connections across the continent’s medtech ecosystem. Special thanks go to her supervisor Roopam Dey and to Sudesh Sivarasu for the connection.

“The experience showed me that we don’t need to wait for perfect conditions to begin building medical devices in Africa. We can start with what we have, learn through iteration, and create products that truly serve our communities and sell.”

EasySqueezy on display

With the BMERC community

Surf lessons, for the personal paragraph

Impulse Biomedical sign, inline detail