Designing an Artificial Heart-A Systems Approach to Building the Impossible

Join us for Designing an Artificial Heart: A Systems Approach to Building the Impossible, an event on Tue, Feb. 10, 2026 at 7-9pm at Covalent Metrology, 925 Thompson Place, Sunnyvale, CA 94085.

We'll have free quality pizza and drinks starting at 6:30pm. Come early and network with our members, other engineers, interested parties, and possible consulting clients.

A Zoom option for this hybrid event is at https://californiaconsultants.org/event/designing-an-artificial-heart-a-systems-approach-to-building-the-impossible/

Description: What does it take to engineer a system that must run nonstop for years, without failure, inside the most hostile environment imaginable—the human body? In this talk, Ian Coll McEachern shares lessons from two decades designing Class III medical devices, surgical robotics, and most notably, contributing to the architecture and development of an artificial heart. Instead of focusing on any single invention, this talk reveals the methodology behind navigating extreme technical risk when dozens of tightly coupled subsystems must evolve simultaneously.

Ian will walk through a practical framework for managing complexity: identifying unknowns early, building parallel test beds, using simulation to reduce risk before fabrication, and validating assumptions through rapid physical prototyping. Attendees will see how constraints—size, power, fluids, mechanics, biocompatibility, and reliability—become a forcing function for innovation rather than a barrier, and how disciplined iteration beats brute force engineering every single time.

While rooted in life-critical medical devices, these principles apply far beyond healthcare. Whether designing robotics, storage hardware, automation systems, or high-reliability consumer products, this presentation will present a field-tested roadmap for tackling daunting engineering challenges, orchestrating cross-domain complexity, and building systems that must not fail.

Bio: Ian Coll McEachern is a product designer and multi-disciplinary engineer with over 20 years of experience building complex hardware systems such as surgical robotics, implantable medical devices, and artificial heart technology. Trained across mechanical, electrical, and systems engineering domains, his work centers on system-first design—balancing deep technical constraints with real-world manufacturability and reliability.

Ian founded Nerdian, Inc., a product design engineering firm, and Golden Gate Molders, a San Francisco-based rapid injection-molding shop whose lab integrates simulation, prototyping, electronics, and manufacturing under one roof. This environment enables hardware development acceleration for companies ranging from early startups to global medtech teams. Ian also speaks regularly on system complexity, hardware innovation, and human-centered engineering.