At the time, David worked at Medtronic Vascular, a company he joined soon after completing his engineering degree at UC Berkeley. Brightbill, who had been David’s first boss at Medtronic Vascular, noted his quick advancement ⎯ from associate R&D engineer to senior R&D engineer in five years ⎯ and was eager to make him a part of the Infraredx team.
The holiday party gig turned into a job interview. After learning more about the company, David was hooked. Infraredx’s fast-paced, innovation-oriented culture appealed to his keen problem-solving nature, and the technology aligned nicely with his experience working on embolic protection and mitral valve devices at Medtronic Vascular.
Just as he did at Medtronic Vascular, David advanced quickly at Infraredx, from Principal R&D Engineer, to Director of Catheter and Hardware Engineering, on up to his current position as Vice President of Product Development. Over the years and in every capacity, David has been laser-focused on nurturing the development of the NIRS catheter and accompanying devices ⎯ from prototype to commercial viability ⎯ as if they were his own children. Each new iteration reflects his passion for bringing the best technology ⎯ in terms of performance, reliability and user satisfaction ⎯ to the people who need it in the fight against heart disease.
David’s aptitude for bringing out the best in cross-functional teams is part of what gets him out of bed each day. “For me, there’s nothing better than going to work with like-minded, super-smart people who are all equally fixated on making this incredibly complex system even better than it already is.”
The Infraredx band still gets together for jam sessions at least once every week or two, and, like Infraredx, continues to improve and expand its repertoire.
Together, ordinary people can achieve extraordinary results.
- Becka Schoettle