Monday, September 12, 2011

Do you work in the Medical Device field? You won't after 2013 due to this new Tax.

The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed)   released a report late last week (Sept. 7th 2011) on how 43,000 jobs in the "Medical Device" field are going to be lost due to yet an other new Tax.

Here is the full report: Employment Effects of the New Excise Tax on the Medical Device Industry.pdf by Diana Furchtgott-Roth and Harold Furchtgott-Roth.

"Medical Device" as defined by the IRS are covered in USC TITLE 26 - Subtitle D - CHAPTER 32 - Subchapter E - § 4191. Section D of Exemptions is the problematic portion to those of us doing Embedded Medical Devices:
"any other medical device determined by the Secretary [of the Treasury] to be of a type which is generally purchased by the general public at retail for individual use."
So now we don't have a doctor nor a person familiar with Embedded System Medical Devices deciding which devices will get a %2.3 excise tax, that will cause Medical Device manufacturers to send yet more jobs overseas to avoid paying the tax, at the Embedded Communities expense.

If you work in the Medical Device field, it is probably time to get your resume in order. I'm going to be polishing up mine, because there is no way to tell what clueless bureaucrat will consider a Medical Device...




Saturday, September 3, 2011

Firmware Engineers of Northeast Ohio Meeting Sept. 13th 2011

Firmware Engineers of Northeast Ohio are holding their monthly meeting on September 13th 2011, 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM EDT.

Agenda:
  1. Catered meal provided [Munchies are always the most important thing of any meeting aren't they?]
  2. Opening Remarks
  3. Lightning 1 Talks:
    • IEEE Cleveland Computer Society/FENEO event, 'Lightning 1'. Chris Cole's inspiration; four very focused 15 minute talks by four different IEEE Cleveland Computer Society and FENEO members are planed. All are welcome but space is limited, please RSVP here.
      Presentation Topics:
    • When UNIX was a Pup by Dr. Robin Lake
    • Software in the Hardware World by Mike Dahlhausen
    • Real World Examples of Using Open Source Tools in Embedded Development by Christopher Cole
    • TDD for Kernel Module Development by Nick Barendt
  4. Networking. Burned out because of to many years at your current gig? This might be your chance to find something new and exciting.
Location:
DeVore Technologies, Inc.
3593 Green Rd.
Commerce Park Four
Suite 525
Beachwood, OH 44122
440-232-3846
Be sure to bring in the flier to receive 1 CPD credit.