Experience in the field
I have spanned systems, chemical, and mechanical engineering roles on cross-functional teams (including software and electronics) in various segments of the life science and medical technology industries since 2015, growing from technical contributor, to lead, to director executing custom design and development projects for clients. Some of the methodologies and projects include:
- Accelerated life testing of materials and conformal coatings
- Thermal analysis and simulation
- Requirements and risk tracing software tool
- Reliability analysis and failure investigation
- Nitrous oxide abatement reactor
- Virtual reality DICOM viewer and surgical trainer
- User interface specification and usability assessment
- Part design for CNC machine, lathe, sheet metal, thermoform, and injection mold fabrication
- Plasmid purification microfluidic cartridge and instrument
- Design for assembly/test and tolerance analysis
- Cell and gene therapy electroporation cartridge and instrument
- Manufacturing assembly and test fixture design and qualification
- Sterile disposable packaging and validation
- Native-to-universal file format DHF export software tool
- Finite element analysis (FEA) and stress testing
- THC breathalyzer handheld device and base station
- Project estimation, management, and reporting
- Proteomic thermal magnetic shaker instrument
- Robotic-assisted surgery device and instrumentation
- Surgical shadowing and cadaveric device assessment
What do you like about working at Tensentric?
I most appreciate the ambitious culture and range of opportunities – I have the privilege of working with and learning from top engineers in the field and being exposed to a wide variety of exciting technologies.
What do you like about working at a company that designs medical products?
I like making a difference!
What’s the most interesting [medical/IVD/life sciences/CGT] project you’ve worked on and why?
I directed development of a bone-mounted robot for total knee arthroplasty. The team composition (internal, client, surgeon, and supplier partners both domestic and international) and technical challenges (stability and accuracy, reliability under extreme conditioning, small size and cost targets) made for a highly dynamic project with many inputs to balance. In addition to allowing me to leverage hard engineering skills alongside people and project management to maintain critical interfaces, it allowed me to engage the orthopedic and sports medicine market that I’ve long admired as an athlete. Watching the team accomplish engineering feats and deliver precision and efficiency to users was incredibly rewarding.
What unique set of skills do you bring to Tensentric?
I have a passion and aptitude for technical detail that is only rivaled by a pragmatic and persistent pursuit of progress. Where some may get caught up in challenges or struggle to communicate, I can distill and translate messages to non-technical stakeholders to achieve common understanding and alignment on go-forward plans. Having played competitive sports through college, I take great pride in my ability to jump in and add value at any level (and especially under pressure) to keep the team on track.
What hobbies or non-work activities are you most passionate about?
Anything that gives me a chance to compete at or make something. I played club baseball at CU before the inevitable (and perhaps hazardous) transition to adult softball. When the Colorado weather allows, I spend time on the field or golf course and go out to eat/drink/play/laugh with my young family. When it doesn’t, I hibernate in my basement workshop.
If you could work on any type of medical device project, what would it be and why?
Brain-computer interfaces and neural prosthetics – the opportunity to capture and translate brain activity and restore physical function with machines fascinates me. Not only would it draw on my cross-disciplinary experience, but cutting-edge and rapidly converging scientific understanding and technological advancements in the industry at large.
Where were you born/where did you grow up?
I was born in St. Louis but moved to Colorado when I was four. I grew up just outside of Boulder and have been in the Front Range ever since.
If you could go back in time, where and what time would you travel to and why?
With that kind of power, I figure that I would be responsible for helping answer some of humanity’s most vexing questions. So, I’d probably travel to the dawn of the chicken, to see if it or the egg came first.