Where do you work and since when?
I work at Mana Health Technologies GmbH, a company I founded in 2020 directly after my graduation from the University of Applied Sciences. We design and develop products and experiences with the goal of improving the health and quality of life of every user.
In early 2022 we launched our first product “manadental” with the goal to improve oral health and to prevent the cause of gum disease and its subsequent damage to the body. We already received an award for “manadental” at the Austrian Staatspreis for Design 2022 and were pleased to be nominated for the Austrian Founder Award “Phoenix”. Besides these awards, however, we are most pleased about many satisfied users of our product system.
Why did you choose this company?
Following an idea through to its physical realization has always fascinated me and was one of the main reasons why I wanted to study industrial design. Designing for and close to the human body and mind, where ergonomics and usability play a major role, was a lot of fun for me during exciting cooperations that the FH JOANNEUM makes possible for students together with partner companies.
For me, it was an easy and logical decision after graduation to shape my professional life as freely and passionately as I learned to do while working on projects during my studies at the FH. Other paths besides self-employment never really appealed to me that much.
What has been the biggest challenge so far?
Starting a company is like building a car while you’re already driving it – for me, clearly one of the biggest challenges of the last few years. In addition, it was not easy to bring a product with electronic components to the market during the notorious corona virus-related supply chain bottlenecks.
What do you particularly enjoy?
Designing the path of an idea from the first sketch to the satisfied user.
