Latest news with #Malinowski
Technical.ly
29-05-2025
- Business
- Technical.ly
This founder believes Ukraine is the place to soft-launch a prosthetic knee
/ As the war rages on in Ukraine, a founder from Northern Virginia is raising money to launch her prosthetic knee technology in the country. Sarah Malinowski, 27, is the founder and CEO of Seamless Transition in Rosslyn. She's developing prosthetic knees that resemble the curvature of human ones to mimic natural movement, unlike the standard prosthetic that allows for limited motion and can cause pain. In 2023, Malinowski met with staff at the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation, who asked if current wars still cause lower leg amputations. She didn't immediately know the answer, but decided to meet with refugees in Poland to learn more. After an old friend got her across the border to Ukraine, where she spoke with hospitalized warfighters, she quickly learned the necessity of what she was building. 'It was a weird, unfortunate, right time-right place,' Malinowski told 'But if this is a way that we can help them, then I'm all for it.' Although she registered the product in the US with the Food and Drug Administration, Malinowski, who started Seamless Transition in 2022, is planning a soft launch in Ukraine later this year. To make it happen, she's raising $250,000 starting in June. For latest edition of How I Got Here, Malinowski outlined her inspiration for Seamless Transition, reasons for soft-launching in a war-plagued country and advice to fellow founders. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. How did your career begin? I have my undergrad in mechanical engineering, and while I was doing that bachelor's in Minnesota, I was working at a prosthetic clinic. That's what inspired me to do this prosthetic: All these people came in and kept telling me all the ways that it didn't work, even though they were wearing the top-line things. As the engineering student, I was like, 'This can be fixed. This is the 21st century.' I worked in industry for about a year, and then I want[ed] to do what I've been so passionate about doing. I started my master's degree at George Washington University in biomedical engineering, and dedicated the thesis to the design of this prosthetic. What was your first job in tech? During my undergrad, I did internships at a foundry in Minnesota, in the small town of Le Sueur, and we did aluminum castings. It was really cool to see the manufacturing side, which definitely helps me now when we're talking about manufacturing this device. I know hands-on what goes into creating these types of products. How did your company start? The inspiration came from when I was an undergrad, meeting these people. I've always maintained that passion. Then, when I came to GW, I was actually doing interviews. I didn't even know that customer discovery [was] a thing you do in business. I just thought, 'Let me interview some veterans.' One of them told me, 'Hey, you should check out the Office of Innovation Entrepreneurship, you should talk to one of the mentors. You should get involved.' I started meeting with Bob Smith, who's now the head of that department, and he helped me all the way through the idea phase. I got about an entire year to get the idea and concept really molded before I jumped in and started doing the design and research on my master's thesis. I went through their pitch competition, their new venture competition, where I won $27,000 — that was a great start. Where are you now with Seamless Transition? We have the initial prototype completed. We have the MVP, which is great. What we're working on doing is a soft launch in Ukraine. We have all of the computer testing data. We are FDA-registered as a Class II device, 510(k)-exempt. It doesn't have any claims on it yet because we haven't done any clinical trials on it. In Ukraine, we're unable to do anything that would be FDA-approved, as far as we wouldn't be able to submit it for approval because it's not in America. But we would like to do small-scope testing in Ukraine [to confirm] all of the numbers that are true on the computer are true in real life, donate those 10 [devices] to those people for their time, and then continue a sale with that hospital that helped us — giving them a discounted price, that kind of thing. The goal would then be to have contract manufacturing in Ukraine. That way, we're not having to pay for the tariffs and the shipping, and keeping it as low-cost as possible for the Ukrainians. Why Ukraine? The initial people that I talked to and met back in my undergrad, when I was first meeting all these amputees, 90% of them were veterans. That really kind of hit a soft spot with me, with both my grandparents serving, a lot of great uncles serving. It hit a soft point where they would come to me and they're crying and saying that they can't go on a walk with their daughters in the woods. I was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is too much.' [My family's] originally from Poland, so I went to Poland [and] thought I would interview a bunch of the refugees. When I touched the ground there, I was at the airport, and one of my friends calls me and he's like, 'Hey, I was actually in Ukraine for the past six months teaching them medical skills. Why don't I help you? I have a great family. You can see [if] they can help you get into all these hospitals.' The next day, I was on a bus, and I walked across the border into Ukraine. That is where I met the family that has been so nice, and met other people at hospitals. What else does your day-to-day in this job encompass? It's the beginning process of raising money [for this soft launch]. I feel like this is the point of a startup that no one likes to talk about. So it's me, and I have a COO named Ash Asher. We have so many things to do all the time. I am trying to get our slide decks ready for the raise, and want to make sure that we have all of our verbiage correct. I'm just going through all the stacks, making sure it makes sense in English and Ukrainian, making sure that the hospitals understand what we're asking from them and what they're receiving from us — and being very clear on those things. It's a lot of jumping from hat to hat and switching what my role is for the day, but always maintaining connections with people. That's something almost every day — having quick touchpoints with certain people, just making sure they know that I haven't forgotten about them, that it's going to take me a little bit longer than it would if I had a team of 20 people to get this raise started. What advice do you have for fellow founders, specifically in medical technology? Meet people. Meet other people who are in the same space that can either sit with you and cry about the same things, because it's all very hard, or people who might inspire you or give you some contacts. There are hard days and there are really great days. Sometimes it'll be at noon, and you feel like you're on top of the world, and at 5 p.m., an email comes through, and now you're staying up until midnight trying to fix it. So it's a lot of high highs and low lows, but it's all worth it. What else is coming up with Seamless Transition? We've also applied for the SBIR with NIH. With that, our partners, if we get it, would be George Washington University along with the Walter Reed facility. That would be huge for us here in America. We're trying to get to market in Ukraine, but we're trying to solidify all those testing and regulation requirements here in the US through that. Having those partnerships with Walter Reed and GW would be crucial for that.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Yahoo
Attorney for widow of former Little Rock airport executive Bryan Malinowski discusses lawsuit against ATF over deadly 2024 raid & shooting
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – More than a year after his death, the family of former Little Rock Airport Director Bryan Malinowski is suing the ATF and agents who participated in the search warrant that resulted in his death. The lawsuit claims that the agents violated the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, as well as many other federal policies and state laws, before and after the search warrant. Attorney speaks on gun show loophole explained as cause for ATF raid on home of Bryan Malinowski Attorney Bud Cummins represents Bryan Malinowski's widow, Maer Malinowski, in the complaint. It states that on March 19, 2024, ATF agents with Little Rock Police turned on a siren for 1.5 seconds before turning off the siren and keeping on lights. Agents allegedly knocked on Malinowski's storm door and shouted for less than half a minute before deciding to break in those doors and the wooden door behind them. All of it happened shortly after 6 a.m. and an hour before sunrise. 'Never rang the doorbell. Knocked and waited 20 to 25 seconds before they started forcibly breaking open the door and never made an announcement again that they were police, who they were, and what their purpose was, and that's really where the constitutional violations occur,' Cummins said. Widow of former Little Rock airport executive Bryan Malinowski sues ATF over deadly 2024 raid shooting Cummins argued a reasonable search warrant execution would have given someone with no criminal record more time to get to the door. He said that when Malinowski awoke, he did not see police lights or hear anything but what he believed were intruders. When agents entered the home, Malinowski was a few feet from his bedroom and 30 feet down a hall to the agents' left. Malinowski shot one in the heel, the lawsuit states. Another agent returned fire, shooting Malinowski in the head. 'From the side where Bryan Malinowski saw intruders coming into his home, there were no markings that identified them as police, and they were not making any announcements that they were police,' Cummins said. D.C. lawmakers hold hearing on Little Rock Airport Executive Bryan Malinowski's death According to the suit, there was disorganization during the execution of the search warrant. The agent carrying a ballistic shield with 'POLICE' on it never entered the home when he was supposed to enter first. The agent who entered first instead told investigators, 'I think we were unprepared for the French doors.' Several other agents are quoted in the 72-page lawsuit. 'But for their planning and their execution, Bryan Malinowski would have been alive today. His death is completely attributable to the mistakes that are described in that complaint,' Cummins argued. The lawsuit also claims Malinowski's widow was wrongfully detained for hours with no legitimate reason. Neither she nor her husband had an arrest warrant for them, only a search warrant alleging Bryan Malinowski was selling firearms without a $200 license, which requires more record keeping of who guns are sold to. 'When there is no fact or circumstances to lead law enforcement to think there is risk of danger, risk of destruction of evidence, risk of fleeing, there is absolutely no reason to use these tactics, and by golly, if you are going to use them, you've got to do it right,' Cummins said. Attorney for family of Malinowski says 'It's far from over' after prosecutor declines to charge agents Last Summer, District Prosecuting Attorney Will Jones decided not to file charges against ATF agents, saying their use of force was justified. On Thursday, Jones said he had not read the new lawsuit and would not have anything additional to say regarding it. Cummins anticipates the trial will likely not be heard in 2025. Maer Malinowski also shared a statement following the lawsuit's filing. 'Today's lawsuit seeks justice for the nightmare I've been living for the last 14 months,' Maer Malinowski said in part. 'Bryan believed the men who broke into our home were intruders, and he took a bullet to the forehead and ultimately gave his life defending me and our home from people he thought were trying to harm us.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hamilton Spectator
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Widow of Little Rock airport director killed in raid sues ATF over husband's death
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The widow of an Arkansas airport director who was killed during a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives raid on his home last year sued the agency and several officials, claiming the agency and officers acted recklessly and negligently. Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport Executive Director Bryan Malinowski died days after he was shot when ATF agents were executing a warrant March 19, 2024, at his home in Little Rock. The ATF said Malinowski shot at agents, striking and injuring one, after which agents returned fire. An affidavit released after the shooting said the warrant was related to accusations that Malinowski bought over 150 guns between May 2021 and February 2024 and that he resold many without a dealer's license. In the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Little Rock, Maria 'Maer' Malinowski accused the ATF and 10 agents and task force officers of violating hers and her husband's constitutional rights. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and requested a jury trial. 'The Constitution requires reasonableness and, specifically here, that defendants both knock and announce their presence and purpose and wait a reasonable time before entry,' the lawsuit said. 'The ATF failed to do so, resulting in an entirely predictable, needless and tragic outcome.' The ATF said it does not comment on ongoing legislation. A local prosecutor last year said an ATF agent was justified in fatally shooting Bryan Malinowski. Malinowski's death prompted criticism from some Republican lawmakers in Arkansas who have called for more information from the ATF. Malinowski was a lifelong gun collector who would attend shows on weekends where he would buy, sell and trade with others, the lawsuit said. He did not know he was under investigation and reasonably believed the agents entering his home were intruders because they didn't knock and give him adequate time to come to the door, the complaint said. 'Today's lawsuit seeks justice for the nightmare I've been living for the last 14 months,' Maria Malinowski said in a news release.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Widow of Little Rock airport director killed in raid sues ATF over husband's death
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The widow of an Arkansas airport director who was killed during a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives raid on his home last year sued the agency and several officials, claiming the agency and officers acted recklessly and negligently. Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport Executive Director Bryan Malinowski died days after he was shot when ATF agents were executing a warrant March 19, 2024, at his home in Little Rock. The ATF said Malinowski shot at agents, striking and injuring one, after which agents returned fire. An affidavit released after the shooting said the warrant was related to accusations that Malinowski bought over 150 guns between May 2021 and February 2024 and that he resold many without a dealer's license. In the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Little Rock, Maria 'Maer" Malinowski accused the ATF and 10 agents and task force officers of violating hers and her husband's constitutional rights. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and requested a jury trial. 'The Constitution requires reasonableness and, specifically here, that defendants both knock and announce their presence and purpose and wait a reasonable time before entry,' the lawsuit said. "The ATF failed to do so, resulting in an entirely predictable, needless and tragic outcome." The ATF said it does not comment on ongoing legislation. A local prosecutor last year said an ATF agent was justified in fatally shooting Bryan Malinowski. Malinowski's death prompted criticism from some Republican lawmakers in Arkansas who have called for more information from the ATF. Malinowski was a lifelong gun collector who would attend shows on weekends where he would buy, sell and trade with others, the lawsuit said. He did not know he was under investigation and reasonably believed the agents entering his home were intruders because they didn't knock and give him adequate time to come to the door, the complaint said. 'Today's lawsuit seeks justice for the nightmare I've been living for the last 14 months," Maria Malinowski said in a news release.
Winnipeg Free Press
15-05-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Widow of Little Rock airport director killed in raid sues ATF over husband's death
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The widow of an Arkansas airport director who was killed during a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives raid on his home last year sued the agency and several officials, claiming the agency and officers acted recklessly and negligently. Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport Executive Director Bryan Malinowski died days after he was shot when ATF agents were executing a warrant March 19, 2024, at his home in Little Rock. The ATF said Malinowski shot at agents, striking and injuring one, after which agents returned fire. An affidavit released after the shooting said the warrant was related to accusations that Malinowski bought over 150 guns between May 2021 and February 2024 and that he resold many without a dealer's license. In the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Little Rock, Maria 'Maer' Malinowski accused the ATF and 10 agents and task force officers of violating hers and her husband's constitutional rights. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and requested a jury trial. 'The Constitution requires reasonableness and, specifically here, that defendants both knock and announce their presence and purpose and wait a reasonable time before entry,' the lawsuit said. 'The ATF failed to do so, resulting in an entirely predictable, needless and tragic outcome.' The ATF said it does not comment on ongoing legislation. A local prosecutor last year said an ATF agent was justified in fatally shooting Bryan Malinowski. Malinowski's death prompted criticism from some Republican lawmakers in Arkansas who have called for more information from the ATF. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Malinowski was a lifelong gun collector who would attend shows on weekends where he would buy, sell and trade with others, the lawsuit said. He did not know he was under investigation and reasonably believed the agents entering his home were intruders because they didn't knock and give him adequate time to come to the door, the complaint said. 'Today's lawsuit seeks justice for the nightmare I've been living for the last 14 months,' Maria Malinowski said in a news release.
