Inside a Berlin MedTech Start-Up: Max Beach’s Role at UniWearables

Maxwell Beach and His Internship Experience at UniWearables

We had the chance to talk with Maxwell Beach, one of our Internship students at CIEE Berlin this Fall Semester. Max is studying Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, and during his time in Berlin he has been interning at UniWearables, a growing start-up developing medical-use wearable technology.

“The internship abroad experience has been amazing, especially learning how work and the culture around work differs from the United States,” Max Beach

We also spoke with Zdenek Vejvoda, Max’s supervisor and Lead Developer at UniWearables, who shared more about the company and his experience working with CIEE Berlin interns.

UniWearables

UniWearables is a growing start-up that will enter the market next year with its wearable device and a range of accessories. It is a medical-use product that is continuously collecting key vital signs from patients and transmits them over network to the nursing station. This helps hospitals reduce routine workloads that can be automated, while ensuring continuous and timely monitoring. According to Zdenek, "one of the most important advantages is the ability to detect critical changes at the very moment they occur. Unveiling a problem at the time the problem occurs can eventually save lives".

Maxwell Beach: CIEE Berlin Internship Abroad

According to Zdenek Vejvoda having an intern from CIEE Berlin has been a very positive experience. “It brings fresh perspectives and a motivated energy into our workflow, which is especially valuable in a fast-paced start-up environment. Interns often ask the right questions, challenge assumptions, and help us reflect on our own processes while contributing meaningful work. It was great to meet the people behind CIEE and we look forward to collaborating with them again in the future”.

For Max, the main challenge of doing an internship abroad was jumping into a project that has already been in the works for over a year, but that has allowed him the opportunity to work in a startup environment that feels very welcoming and relaxed. 

“I think I most enjoyed having a large sense of freedom regarding my work and the flexibility in my work during my time in Berlin”, Max pointed out.

At UniWearables, Max has been involved in various firmware-related tasks aimed at improving their embedded system. “He contributed to peripheral communication as well as memory management within the device. He also offered helpful suggestions regarding version control practices. Beyond the technical contributions, Max was great company during both work-related and social activities, and he integrated smoothly into the team”, expressed Zdenek.