PEORIA DOCTOR BEGINS NEXT STEP OF PEORIANEXT

One of the Top Stories of 2004

Source: Peoria Times Observer
Story By: Ben Lambert
Date: December 29, 2004

Peoria — What Dr. Andy Chiou, director of endovascular surgery for the Peoria Surgical Group and assistant professor of surgery and radiology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, envisions is a state-of-the-art robot that will simulate human reactions to surgery, and he said he wants the company to begin, and remain, in Peoria.

“The reason I’m perfect to visualize this is because I do this to my patients,” Chiou said. He wants to “build a better teacher; build a better first patient that won’t die on you.”

The product itself, which Chiou believes one day will be a mandatory training tool for surgeons, is only part of what he has in mind.

Bradley always will be a part of Peoria, Chiou conceded. The University of Illinois college of Medicine at Peoria is a stepchild of the University of Illinois, he said. Budget cuts or loss of revenue could easily cause the university to reel the outpost to Champaign or move it to Chicago. Caterpillar, Chiou said, is constantly courted by state governments offering huge tax incentives.

With a company like Peoria Robotics (a name Chiou used in conversation) that would integrally link all three entities to Peoria, Chiou said there is a better chance of retention.

“We want to keep it here. I want that big sign — not ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ — ‘Made in Peoria,’” Chiou said, smiling and pounding his fist on the table as if stamping the sign on his product.

“What if we had six different companies that linked everyone together? I want a project like this to be the poster child of PeoriaNext,” Chiou said.

Chiou said if the University of Illinois College of Medicine was linked to a multi-billion-dollar company in Peoria, the college would be the crown jewel of the university instead of the stepchild. Caterpillar, he said, would cease to entertain the notion of leaving. And freshly trained Bradley engineers would see Peoria as the perfect place to start their careers.

“I’d like to see a big old CAT emblem (on the robot) — powered by CAT, brains by Bradley, heart by UICOMP, made in Peoria.

“I want to put it right downtown, and I want my guys and gals to live in those cool warehouses downtown. I want this to start a cool little community under the bridge, and then the Riverplex would have to double in size,” Chiou said, smiling.